Elite Fifth
by richadrt
Summary: A leviathan of a Fight Club president is recruited by the Kiryuin sisters, for a purpose seemingly far more secretive than simple tri-city raiding.
1. Chapter 1 - Leviathan

[2000]

At the farthest edge that his transportation could carry him, there stood a man on a bridge. His face was aghast, mixed in sweat, a barely trimmed beard over his pallid features. The blue pools of the river and oceans beyond reflected in his eyes.

And on the distance, his death sentence. Like red and blue devils across a midnight horizon, he was shooting his vision between each end of the bridge on which he was tottering, in a drunken, tousled stupor. He caught sight of his cargo still tucked away in the back seat of his car, the two sleeping so soundly, and an odd calm tinted with sorrow fell over him.

In a single motion, he fell limply back, and the bubbling of water and smashing of rocks below marked his grave.

* * *

[2004]

From within the luxury district, among the skyscrapers and bejeweled homes of the aristocracy, there crouched a man shrouded by the moonlight above. A blade twirled like a plaything between his fingers, dripping with a sickly green liquid.

Stealing stealthily yet swiftly, he vaulted over a fence, the height of which served only to shroud the two-story house within the perimeter. No lights shone within its windows, and there was no figure that could be seen; yet at any moment, he knew the inhabitants could awake, and if they caught sight of him, he would be as dead as they would soon be. Along the walls, he slunk like a rodent, leaning and pressing his thin frame against the painted pink, like a paper between a folder's margins.

The key to the back entrance had already been given to him, and it was there that he was making his way to in shallow footsteps, with shallower breath.

Then, from within the home, roused a single sound. In a single and practiced motion the man laid as still as a statue against the freshly trimmed glass, negotiating his lithe body as best as he could against the foundation. He could not know if the sudden awakening betokened a caretaker or an executioner, though it was certain that they had not been warned. If they caught sight of him, he would be rend to mince in short order.

In a sharp yet quiet intake of breath, he held, still as a statue, as he heard the house above echo with the lightness of footsteps. Within the dark windows spoke a single voice, with a masculine tenor, but what he was saying could not be made out.

Then, silence reigned over the home once more. It was likely this, and nothing more. Crawling like a snake, the man resumed his journey, brushing up the dirt and coating his mask, which read "N.B.", in the blades of grass. Before long he had arrived at the back entrance, a gray door that was a dull beacon against the luxury of the rest of the mansion, and of the district in which it was located.

With a careful hand, he unlocked it, and with a careful hand, a light push served to open it. His footsteps were as quiet as a mouse as he stole across to kitchen, to which opened a hallway of other days, a menagerie of bronze-trimmed entrances. Form prior preparation and keen senses, he knew his two targets laid within the room at the farthest left, and his third was sleeping so soundly in the room at the farthest right.

Again, as a paper smacked against the wall, he pressed his narrow shoulders to the margins between these chambers, his nude upper half flattening underneath it. The blade between his fingers still shone with the light of the moon peeking from windows not shrouded by a blind. If he was not careful, it might reflect, and alert the twin figures within that doomed bedroom.

And with a far less gentler hand than before, he shoved his way roughly in to the chamber.

Moments later, there was the shriek of two figures, followed by a twin thud.

And once more, silence fell over the house of luxury.

* * *

[2013]

A set of thick double doors slammed shut, and the beating of fists against it broke like mallets against glass. There was no sound to be heard within the chamber at the other end, other than the shriek of a begging wail, piercing the empty air like lightning. The entrance was locked and would not budge; a thousand men could not have opened it, and a hundred swords could not have sliced it apart.

And yet, the girl still tried. Desperate, thrashing, sweating and sobbing like a cornered animal, she drew her blade and attempted to cut straight through the marble, reinforced like stout oak and utterly, painfully invincible.

Then from within the chamber on the other end, began a series of wails. It was as if her own voice was being thrown back to her, and tears soaked her cheeks like freezing rain as again, and again, she threw her weight against it; limply, she sank with her back to the door, cognizant of the horrific failure she was as her every movement felt as heavy as the weight of her emotions.

And once more, the shriek of a begging scream cracked the air. It called her name, writhing, screeching like a broken instrument, and choked with sobbing.

* * *

[2015]

The scene within the skyscraper, that loomed like a black terror, was one of utter cacophony. The alarm had been roused within these offices, and from the lower floors, agonized screams. A series of explosives had cracked and shook the foundation, near-set to burst under the immensity of the bombs.

But on the tenth floor, there was a single room. A roundtable was sat at the center of this room, and none of the twelve women at it had any perturbation over the matters. What group was causing such a ruckus below was easily guessed, and it was far easier for them to shrug off the effects of it, so strong were their uniforms, which appeared to the untrained eye as mere business suits. They knew that at any moment, whatever dogs of men, the half-dressed mongrels carving open a path below, may burst through the stairs and glass door that connected the higher ranks to the lower, like an invisible wall that separated richer from rich.

They mumbled lowly amongst themselves, still occupied with their former business. A knife, hidden beneath a breast pocket, was present on each. They would not need more than one to deal with the assault below.

From the stairs crashed the sound of footsteps like a wild animal running - moments later, there burst a figure from the glass door like a lightning bolt, cracking and shattering as he went. His lower half was thankfully clothed, and drew more attention to the blue hair of his upper. A thick belt was tied around his waist, jingling with hooks of devices too numerous to count or care. At his head, a blackened mask that simply read "N.B.".

The women fell in to uproarious laughter. The boy was playing at being a man. He was thin - there was no uniform upon him, as was the code of the organization to which he was pledged. To taunt him one rose from her seat, her black hair whipping about her pale pallor, sashaying like a fashion model as she strode over to him.

But there was no perturbation in his features, what little could be seen. Before she could make to strike him with her knife he slunk behind her and shot past her as a speeding whirlwind, the table behind erupting in to applause at the raucous display.

"Use your uniform, dog!" he shouted in a voice just as taunting, the litheness of his body sufficing to weave between a dozen strikes.

Aghast and growing tired of the game in to which she had been forced, she ripped a strand of fabric from the collar of her uniform -

"Life Fiber - Synchronization!" she shouted, and too quickly for the sight to follow -

\- her body shriveled up like a horrifically desiccated test subject, and in an explosion of blood her organs collapsed in on themselves. In an instant the room was painted red; the corpse sank, limply, with rigid limbs utterly drained of any blood. Quickly and stealing stealthily, the man scooped, judging by the movement of his fingers, something from out of her now-mangled attire, rushing like a crimson-soaked star around the circular enclosure. The eleven women rose to their feet and shot after him in hot pursuit; they saw him weave through the U-shaped stairway above -

\- and no sooner than they had entered the stairway behind him did a foul odor stagger their senses. Instantly the scene changed from one of thrill to one of madness and horror. Green gas coated their faces, clung to their clothes, prickled like needles against their organs as they drank too deeply in the poisonous clouds.

The women began to stagger; they ran in drunken circles. The gas clung to their throats and pierced deeply in to their lungs, seeming to stab their internals like living weapons. Froth gleamed at their lips, which twisted in pleading shrieks. Raging, writhing, they fell upon each other in a white, yellow, and green heap, choking on coagulated blood, gazing limply up in to slowly swirling eddies of green.

The last sound they heard in life was that man, cackling like a witch from a higher floor, hoarsely shouting; "How clumsy, I forgot the antidote!"

* * *

[2017]

There was a man, bound by red strands like cords to a single chair, his face illumined by a light that scorched his figure with intense brightness and heat. His beard was untrimmed, and his demeanor stoic. He had no fear of the woman before him, the one with a voice like shattering glass, the one with a scarred visage, cracked like the roots of a wilting tree. His mask, which read "N.B.", had been torn to shreds and lay in tatters on his lap. Waiting for her to strike or to lop his head from his wide shoulders, he was a statue as they met in a wry gaze.

But to his surprise, she did not strike. Moving her lips that were as cracked as the right half of her face, she asked a single question to the man.

His eyes blazed in answer.

* * *

[2018]

"Sheesh. You still bother running that shit, leviathan?"

'You know it. Until graduation.' I grinned to the student at my right as I placed my hand on the doorknob. It led inside to the classroom that had served me so well over the past four years, and the student beside me as well, a man who had tried to join my Fight Club every year.

And every year, he would get the shit beaten out of him and swear he'd get me next year.

Unfortunately, he had already lost this year. He had challenged me again a week ago, and like every other student at this school that had tried, he had failed. His face was dimpled with regret over one-sided defeats and pimpled with acne, and I was never sure which had come first.

"You gonna keep running it in university?" he muttered with that same hint of regret.

'That depends. You gonna keep challenging me?'

He shook his head. "Nah. Focusing on Tri-City Raids for now."

He glanced over to the end of the hall behind, nearly empty outside of what clubs met after school. The walls were as blue as he was. "I gotta run for journalism club, anyway. You check that shit out, leviathan? Bet you could do some serious damage on the offense."

I shook my head. I had already seen the posters plastered around campus and the residential districts - under the strict eyes of Satsuki and Ryuko Kiryuin, our illustrious student body presidents and heirs to the world's largest fashion company, all of Honnōji Academy had been preparing to raid the three largest academies in the country within two months, in an event known as the Tri-City Raids.

It had started four years ago as a method of corporate warfare between competing fashion companies, and in exchange for paid tuition and housing, every student at the participating academies were required to either invade or defend. As the company with the largest market share, REVOCS and Honnoji would attack first this year, and if we were the victors once more, it was a certainty the illustrious corporation would claim a monopoly on all clothing production.

I had never enjoyed the corporate aspect, though I could never decline the opportunity to enact a guilt-free beating.

The club president who attained the highest body count would gain the privilege of a Two-Star Goku Uniform, woven from Life Fibers that granted incredibly strength in exchange for the blood of their wearers. The discovery of the wondrous materials centuries ago had been a boon for both military and fashion.

But not for myself, unfortunately.

My ability was far more mysterious than that, yet from teenage years I was always able to call upon a ferocious, titanic suit of armor much like the ones uniforms woven of Life Fibers could transform in to. It was a hulking leviathan that looked as if it were made of obsidian, with a left gauntlet that crackled blue wisps, and whenever it was out my skull - and senses - were replaced by the demonic eyes of a bull's skull until it were sheathed.

By the time I looked back from my hand on the doorknob, my annual challenger was gone.

I shook my head again. Though I were eager to prove my strength in battle, there was no reason for me to enter Tri-City Raids as a solo invader for that reward. I had already ascertained Outcast stood as strong as any Goku Uniform, and though I had never had the opportunity, I thought it might even fare well against Kamuis - a subset of uniforms composed of 100% Life Fibers, with the unfortunate side-effect of occasionally killing their wearers if they became too angered.

The left gauntlet would likely serve me well if I ever needed to fight one, regardless.

With an accustomed motion I pressed open the door to the reserved room, an abandoned classroom that I had kept in better condition than it deserved for nearly four years.

At the teacher's desk - or, club president's - were another set of flyers urging all students to join these aside. I swept these aside as I sat, muttering to myself as I looked over the design, emblazoned just as fiercely in to my brain as it was on the paper. On it, the angered eyebrows of Satsuki Kiryuin. Her chin was held high with all the trappings of aristocracy, her jaw almost as powerful as her Kamui, Junketsu. It was a shining white beacon of an outfit, long sleeves and longer pants, giving way to white boots with a blue trim. At the chest, two eyes with blue sclera and black pupils. At her shoulders, golden epaulettes, and her long black hair flowed down her back.

And at her side, a woman who shared far less of a flair for the dramatic, Ryuko Kiryuin. Her chin was held high as if to mock her sister next to her, black bangs with a red streak like a waterfall in her hair. Her Kamui was a deep purple, a schoolgirl's outfit mixed with darker streams, and there were two fearsome eyes with red sclera and blue pupils. At her shoulders, jade spikes.

I had never seen the woman around school before, and what news mentioned the beautiful woman said she was far less public than Satsuki. It was difficult not to feel some familiarity in her eyes.

Satsuki, on the other hand, was a commanding presence in many senses of the word, ready to lead the darkened silhouettes of three men and one woman known only as the 'Elite Four'.

There was text at the bottom stating it was every student's duty to prove their strength in battle, and that extra compensation would be given depending on battle spoils.

She always had a flair for the dramatic. I swept the flyer aside without a second though, glancing tepidly across the room as if someone would burst in at any moment. I had run the school's Fight Club for years, although there was -

"Fight Club President."

I glanced up from my desk, not expecting such an early visitor. I had assumed it to be a new student at first, someone who hadn't heard of the abysmal reputation I'd accumulated over the years - though to be honest, it's hardly justified.

And there, standing within the doorway, as if the flyer had come to life - Satsuki Kiryuin. Her eyebrows were no less terse, inquisitive as she shot her vision around, and she closed the door behind her as she strode over to me. As if I were at attention, I shot up from my seat.

'That's - me, right. What can I do for you?'

She turned to me and nodded, and with a start, I realized she was alone for this visit. There was no gaggle of oddly-dressed figures around her, no line of sycophantic club presidents praising her every movement, and it almost appeared as if this were a more personal matter than business. Her vision swept the room once more, and she turned to me again.

"Hm. No other members this year either, then?"

I shook my head. It was clear she had read my yearly reports, and the high standards I kept for Fight Club membership were serving me as well as ever.

'Unfortunately not. I doubt I'll have anyone to muster up by the time it comes around, either - though you know how I handle defense. I'll sign up for it again, this year.'

"Of course. There's little issue with that." she muttered, tracing her fingers along her neck. Her gaze was drilling me with far more intensity than I had ever seen it before. It would have sent anyone lesser to intimidation.

As if a gesture of good will, I leaned against the front of my desk and matched her gaze. I had never been afraid of her, and in the back of my mind, I silently wondered if she enjoyed the religious adulation from the other club presidents more, or the lack of it from myself.

"… Outcast. I'm certain you're aware I'm not here for a simple annual check-in."

'Of course. What do you need?'

She smirked. "I'll skip the pleasantries. The Tri-City Raids are forty-five days from now, and your club has yet to meet new regulations."

'New regulations?'

"Of course. Each club must have at least five members - there's no point to taking up an entire room for an hour for one person."

Sensing the objection at my lips, she held her hand to me.

"I'm aware that you use the room for try-outs. I have no reason to believe you're lying on the high standards you keep - but I have not ascertained your strength for myself."

From her back, she unsheathed her sword. The Life Fibers of the blade screeched against Junketsu like a knife against metal.

"Will you accept the challenge? If you've truly started this club to become stronger, it would be idiotic to decline it. A single duel - and I'll decide the fate of your club after."

I couldn't help but smile. It was a challenge I had hardly thought I would ever find, and the temptation was immeasurable. Yet my heart lit with worry, mixed with anticipation, and the battle that would occur after if she were to ascertain Outcast was not made of Life Fibers would prove far more difficult.

"Something wrong? You look scared."

I shook my head and put it out of my mind without a second thought. I would handle the fallout after the fact.

'I accept.'

"Prepare yourself. Life Fiber - Synchronization - Junketsu!"

Before my eyes, she underwent a wild transformation. Her clothes disappeared for a moment, her body billowed within flashes of white light that wrapped around her body like bandages - then too quickly for the sight to follow she stood before me again, her clothing drastically different and her demeanor just as determined. From her shoulders raised Junketsu's eyes from wide metal stalks, her body shielded by thicker plates of white armor. The entire ensemble was a shining beacon, and the light of the room reflected in her eyes and Kamui.

'Outcast!'

But I, too, had a transformation. The plated obsidian gauntlets I had become so accustomed to the weight of over the past years replaced my hands - the bull's skull replaced my own, and at my new left gauntlet, blue energy crackled from ventilation slits cut in to the armor.

Now, she was the one regarding me with renewed interest.

"Clearly not a One-Star." she muttered.

We began to circle, predator and predator. Her fingers curled around the hilt of her blade, her eyes searching for weakness in my obsidian skin.

'It's not.' I muttered, a careful step.

She threw her head up with a laugh. "The mystery of the Fight Club president grows by the second. It cannot be a Two or Three-Star, either - I assign those personally." Her tone was as playful as a tiger. In some odd sense, it was calming.

'Would you believe me if I told you it wasn't a uniform?'

"A blatant lie - but you'll reveal the truth of it after I beat you."

I crossed my arms as she rushed at me with her blade outstretched, staying firmly planted to my post. The first blow was always the most amusing. With her momentum she swept herself to my right and raised her blade to the sky, then made to strike my right arm with one forceful blow.

It wilted uselessly against my right shoulder.

"Wha-"

I ripped her by her neck and threw her to the opposite wall, and here the fight truly began in earnest.

We met in a flurry of strikes at the center as she rushed to me again, little worse for wear from the first blow, her anger carrying through as her sword cut and slashed. Yet my gauntlets offered up far more resistance, the force and strength of the obsidian augmenting every strike that broke through her guard.

In a whirlwind of blows and torn armor we fought for dominance around the arena, snarling like animals as she dodged underneath a gauntlet's sweep, and her sword carved a waterfall of lacerations against my chest with no less violence than the haymakers I cratered against her own.

In one swift motion she kicked herself from me - she shot to the other end of the room, and before I could react she shot back and carved a sheet of armor off in one titanic strike; but like an obsidian horror, I stood, and on the return I caught her by her neck again. As if she were expecting it, her sword butchered deeply through my wrists, and the searing pain unclenched my grip, the clash of gauntlets and sword beginning once more. Jagged steel edges coated my vision and flooded my cheeks with crimson; her blade was pinning, slashing wildly.

Her former decorum was lost in the ferocity of battle, just as my own. The weight of my strikes forced her back against the wall as I rapidly cornered her, the eyes of her Kamui piercing me just as ferociously as the woman who wore it, her sword meeting with my gauntlets in a wild flurry. Foot by foot, she was being shoved back against the wall, and as I made for a titanic, cornered strike -

\- she swept underneath my legs with all of the swiftness she had displayed prior, and impaled her sword through my back; using it as a handhold she scaled to the tip of the obsidian mountain, and as I thrashed against the wall and sought to dislodge her, the hornet on my back snarled in my ear as she wove her body between every blow.

And no matter how ferociously I tried, I could not escape by violence alone.

In a moment of feigned stupidity I placed my right gauntlet against my back and removed it just quickly - her blade impaled deeply where it had been and assured her position for precious moments longer, and with tremendous grip I threw her hand from the blade and threw her from me. Her body smashed against a smattering of desks, her sword still trapped within the last sheet of Outcast's armor and pathetically out of her reach.

Wounded predator and predator, we circled again. Her eyes darted to the blade in my back. It was lodged so fiercely within, it would take another moment for her to retrieve it, even if she could find her way back to it again, and the stoic eyes of the bull's skull told that I would never allow either.

We rushed at each other -

\- and as she had before, she swept underneath my strikes and slid between my legs; she leaped on to my back again, gripping the hilt to pull the sword from its stone, and before I could react -

\- her blade was at my throat and threatening to slit it open.

"Concede." she snarled in to my ear.

The fingers on my gauntlet clenched, and ached to find an escape from the hold she had put on me. I was streaming blood from a score of wounds, on my chest, thighs, and back where she had struck me, and her Kamui was cracked where I had struck her. Her heels assured her position, her grip far tighter around the hilt of her blade than before, and again, I ached to find an escape from the steel prison in to which she had placed me.

Yet I could not find any. As swiftly as she had fought for the previous ten minutes, her reactions were just as quick, and any light twitch of my movement would have sent me to my death in a true fight.

With a sigh, I raised my right hand, and for the first time in years, I marked my surrender. The bitter pill coated my throat like acid as I shook my head in disbelief, disappointment weighing my neck down as Outcast melted against my skin. At my back, I felt her dislodge herself from me.

I could barely turn to face her under the shame of it. Even if she were the best fighter at our school, the thought of any concession - and in so close a battle - was as disgusting to me as the blood we had both spilled prior.

Another flash of white, and she was her former appearance again.

And now, her eyes interrogated for the answer to the mystery. There was no sign in her expression that she had managed to ascertain the true composition of the leviathan that had taken enough punishment as any Three-Star, and no smirk in her lips that held confidence for whatever theory she had formed. In some odd sense, again, it was calming. She sensed the same hatred of losing in me that she likely held in herself.

With a wry smirk, she pulled herself away and crossed her arms. She was waiting for me to accept the reality of it.

After a long pause, I sighed. I was still hoping it was a dream.

'… Unbelievable.'

"There's no shame in losing to me, Outcast. If you had aimed your gauntlets an inch lower -"

'- and gripped you by your hair, I might have kept you at bay.'

I, too, wore a wry smirk. We were still panting like dogs, and blood mixed with the exhaustion running down on our faces.

"Correct. In the heat of battle, it's important to take whatever option is open to you, no matter how dishonorable - or cruel - it may seem. Regardless," she said, wringing sweat-soaked hair with a free hand, "your strength is clear. If you have a secret to your uniform that you would prefer I keep confidential, I shall honor that agreement."

'… right.' I murmured, sitting back against a desk and thumbing my bruises. 'It's not a uniform. I - don't know where it comes from or how it appears, admittedly - but I can guarantee that it's not made of Life Fibers. I've always told everyone it's a One-Star - and the school registration didn't want to say no to a two-ton leviathan.'

"I suppose it is above their pay-grade to deal with such things." She shook her head, and a smirk cracked her stoic expression. "You shall provide me samples of your armor, and my analyst will set to swift work on determining if you're lying or not. If your uniform is truly not made of Life Fibers - I may find it useful for my own purposes."

'And if I am lying, you'll expel me and revoke my housing.'

Her features dimpled with the enjoyment she was gaining from the display of authority.

"Astute. I enjoy those who understand their situation so quickly."

With another nod, I scooped broken chips of Outcast's armor off the floor and handed them to her as the precious artifacts they were. Her fingers traced carefully along the cracked obsidian, her nails prickling against the jagged edges as if she could still hardly believe it.

"…hm." she muttered, suddenly pensive as the obsidian flickered between her fingers. "… Outcast. Your report sheets have mentioned you started the Fight Club, for the reason of…"

' "To be the strongest organism on the planet." ' I shook my head and smiled. 'I wrote that when I was fourteen, you know.'

"And yet you've continued to run the same club."

Her gaze mixed stoic grit with shared comradery. I knew that she held the same aggressive spark.

"If your uniform is truly not made of Life Fibers, then I would like for you to join the Elite Four. You'll be better suited with a squadron at your same level."

Sensing the shock on my face, she shook her head. "I won't force you to decide at this moment, of course. If you haven't lied to me, then I shall call you to Student Council's office within the hour, where you will have your first meeting with the others. You may decide whether to join - or not - by the end of this."

Without waiting for a response, she made her way to the door.

'I - certainly. One last thing.' I said, unsheathing the left blue gauntlet. 'I'm not sure if your analyst will find this out, or not - but the left gauntlet possesses remote object manipulation. Telekinesis.'

Pausing for a moment, she glanced back to me as her fingers curled around the doorknob. I had no inkling whether or not she had believed the whole maddening story, or if she were even intending to submit the ridiculous specimens to her analyst.

The same smirk cracked across her face.

"Thank you, Outcast. The honesty is appreciated."

* * *

The announcement rang out from the school's intercom an hour later, and I was silently grateful she had chosen to verify the ridiculous story after all.

The office was seated far above the school at towering heights, and as I approached the elevator a dozen guards waved me in for it. My step was cautious, not certain if there was some deeper protocol I were meant to follow. As I walked inside, the sleek chrome slammed shut on me behind.

And when I arrived what felt like fifty floors later, the sight out of the doors was no less guarded than the one below. The walls were thick and composed of soundproof steel. It was illumined by a single chandelier, as if inviting me for a party. A single chair was laid against the opposite wall, adjacent to a closed door, and presuming the chair to be for myself, I sat upon it and waited. It could barely support my weight or width, and I thought it might shatter open at any moment.

From the other room I heard slow murmurs, soft whispering I could not make out. I presumed this to be the Elite Four, the three men, the one woman, and assuredly, our illustrious student body presidents. So low were their voices, I could not ascertain the tone, whether excited for the new arrival, or preparing for a merciless initiation.

After what seemed centuries of waiting, the door opened - and there he was. He was a leviathan as well, more lion than human. His blonde mane gave way to wide shoulders, a wider smile across his face as he regarded me, and with a sense of comradery already built in the muscular stature of the man, I shot to my feet and matched his gaze. At his back, there was a far more illuminated chamber, though I could barely see beyond the sheer size of the behemoth.

With a nod, he gestured for me, and I followed after him as he led me to a longtable where four others sat. Satsuki, at the head, and as I sat next to my fellow behemoth, she regarded me with a wry smirk.

The other four were no less excited a sight than he. The two men and one woman were sitting across from me, the chamber lit enough to see their faces fully.

The man at the left wore a midnight-black suit that looked as if it were about to burst open, no matter how scrawny its wearer. Blue streaks of hair gave way to a set of cyan glasses dipping at his nose, and his eyes were searching my visage with curious glint. His fingers traced absentmindedly over a plastic bag laid upon the table, that was filled with the shards of armor Satsuki had taken.

The second, a childish woman whose face was framed by pink hair. She wore a tall white marching band hat, and an unmistakable aura of narcissism.

The third, a man with shaved patches of black hair that gave way to thick pauldrons. As if he were still in the feudal era he wore helmetless samurai garb - a Three-Star Goku Uniform - and a masterwork of a katana at his back.

Yet there was one conspicuously absent seat. I knew not if Ryuko had declined to join my first meeting or if she were occupied by other matters, though as the exotic animal in the room, I knew it would be improper to ask. For all my rough visage and brutish strength, I was well-accustomed to being the center of attention. This, too, was something I shared with the behemoth at my side.

"I told you he isn't as odd as the other club presidents." stated Satsuki plainly, and the other four burst in to laughter. They had kept it held in the entire time we sat.

"I dunno," grinned the pink-haired conductor across from me, "I bet he's got some real skeletons in the closet. What kind of loner starts a club just to fight people?"

"He's just got an aggressive spirit, between lifting weights and eating buckets of food, most likely," the behemoth at my left said as he pat me on the back. He knew well the toils and challenges of becoming so wide. Our shoulders were like two boulders threatening to scrape and erode the other.

"Let alone the mystery of that - ability." muttered the blue-haired man. I surmised quickly that this was Satsuki's analyst, and the scientist looked ready to explode in to a series of interrogations.

I held my hand out to him. 'If you need to ask any more questions -'

"- that shall come later, Outcast." Satsuki smirked and bid me to pause. "However incredulous your story, it appears to be genuine. Inumata could hardly believe his eyes. I thought he might spend the entire day testing it."

"He's gonna poke and prod the shit out of you if you get in a room alone with him, you know." the conductor smirked.

"Can you blame me, Nonon?" Inumata shook his head. "Quite incredible, incredible, incredible. Lady Satsuki said it possessed arms like volcanic rock, legs made of sheer obsidian. You - simply must allow me to take more samples, if that is quite alright."

'Of course.' I grinned, more than pleased to be the center of attention and take the opportunity for bonding. 'I've just always had it - just like a uniform, except always with me and doesn't use Life Fibers. Before I started training, it was as durable as paper, strong as a kitten, slow as a turtle. Now, it's just as slow as a turtle.'

"As poetic as Sanageyama," grinned the behemoth at my left, a small gesture to the samurai.

"And as wide as Gamagoori." he replied.

We shared a laugh. It was clear the meeting was far more for friendship than business, and I was silently grateful that it was proving to be less aristocratic than I had expected. We were students, after all.

Yet out of the corner of my eyes, I could not stop glancing to the empty seventh seat. Like the sun, I could not stare at it directly, and like the sun, I could not avoid seeing it.

Satsuki, astute as ever, caught this as well. She held her hand out to me.

"Ryuko could not make it today, unfortunately. Our mother, Ragyo…" She clenched her jaw like the name was acid in her mouth. "…had asked to spend the day with her."

The room fell to silence for a moment.

"…she'll be alright, right?" Nonon muttered, twisting one of her pink hair strands as if to distract herself. Across all of their faces was that same mix of hesitance and anger, and the tone of the conversation had changed in an instant. I surmised quickly the five held no love for the president of REVOCS, though for what reason, it would, again, be improper to ask.

Satsuki closed her eyes and nodded. "She shall. It's simply a public showing with Nui, Rei, and some other high-ranking employees of REVOCS. Something to calm them down after the latest Nudist Beach assault."

Nonon's eyes shot open, and fresh disgust tinted her cheeks. "She has to spend the entire day with Nui?! Why would you say she'll be okay?!"

Satsuki threw her head up with a laugh, and the others followed with her. Sensing the dozen questions at my lips, she held her hand to me. "Nui is REVOCS' couturier, and Rei is my mother's assistant. Fortunately, Rei never comes to visit, though Nui is quite the annoying pest. She'll show up to these meetings from time to time, always unannounced."

(Nonon) "Lady Satsuki is so diplomatic."

(Inumata) "It would be improper of her to call the bitch by 'bitch'."

(Sanageyama) "She's an oni in human form, truly. Nonon, perform your impression of her for the leviathan - he'll understand what we mean immediately."

All eyes turned to Nonon, and we waited with bated breath. I could hardly imagine a presence so horrifying that it annoyed the five so utterly and equally, and the glint in Nonon's eyes said she would enjoy putting on the performance just as much as we were sure to enjoy watching it.

Throwing her voice out with pitch like an instrument tuned too high and too sharp, she began; "Ooo! What's everyone doing? Isn't fashion wonderful?"

The first series of laughter rang out. Now she was incessantly groping Inumata's shoulders at her side.

"Ooo! Is this a Three-Star? Ryuko-ko! You should let me improve it - and install a bunch of shit on it to track all your movements!"

Pleased with the applause she was garnering, she sat back in her chair with just as narcissistic of a grin as when we had first began.

"And that," said Inumata as he wiped tears from his eyes, "is Nui. We should thank our lucky stars every day for Lady Ryuko."

'It's a hell of an act,' I said, repeating the same. 'You don't use Nui as your couturier, then?'

(Gamagoori) "Nothing as horrific as that."

(Sanageyama) "We would never enter a pact with that imp."

'Jeez.' I leaned back in my chair and shook my head. 'Is she that bad? You mentioned something about tracking devices.'

They shot their vision to Satsuki at the head as if they were asking for permission. She nodded, and closed her eyes.

"I'll leave it at two points for now, Outcast. One - Nui's personality is, of course, not the only reason we do not allow her to sew our uniforms. Outside of Ryuko's and I's Kamuis, we're more than willing to sacrifice power with a less skilled couturier.

Secondly - I presume I do not need to tell you what Ragyo will do if she discovers an ability like your's. If Nui drops in unannounced, she'll relay everything she hears back to my mother."

'…right.' I muttered, suddenly tense. 'Poverty will be the least of my worries.'

"Precisely. She won't hesitate to have you executed. Fortunately, your lack of Life Fibers is more of a boon than a hindrance for future plans."

"Sheesh." Sanageyama muttered and shook his head. "Haven't even told the man why."

"He hasn't pledged yet, of course. It's hardly relevant for now."

'Of course'. I muttered. It was clear I would have to wait for the answers I sought, though the scorn in Satsuki's voice when she had said Ragyo's name told me well enough there were unresolved tensions in the family. Whatever theory I could conjure was unlikely to lead to anything that simple patience wouldn't.

"Regardless, Outcast," Satsuki said, throwing her hands up in an attempt to lighten the mood, "you've seen enough to make your decision on my offer. Will you accept?"

Nonon's grin filled her face. "Oh man. This isn't any less entertaining the fourth time seeing it."

"Or the third." Inumata muttered.

"Now, now," said Gamagoori, patting me on the back. "Let's not embarrass the man on his first day."

'I'm almost afraid to ask what pledging entails, now.'

Satsuki threw her head up with a laugh, and just as suddenly her eyes underwent a wild turn. Her expression became stoic and strict, her eyebrows and chin raised as they had on the poster, and it was no less commanding of a presence in reality than it was on paper. She smacked her hands against the table and stood.

"Outcast! You may leave, or kneel to me!"

I shot to my feet and by her side, bowing my head and bending on one knee to her. The snickers of the others came in stifled bursts, and though I thought it may have been a prank at first, I dared not meet Satsuki's gaze. My eyes trained firmly to the floor. I heard her sword unsheathe from its scabbard above me as she placed the tip at my neck.

"Outcast, the leviathan! Do you pledge to uphold my orders without question, no matter what they may be?"

'I do.'

"Do you pledge yourself to the strictest secrecy?"

'I do.'

"And do you pledge your unflinching loyalty to I, Satsuki Kiryuin?"

'I do.'

"Then from this day forth, you shall be a member of the Elite Five. Tomorrow, you shall meet with Ryuko, privately, here, and she shall set to weaving a fraudulent Three-Star Goku Uniform for you. Ragyo must not be allowed to discover that you do not use Life Fibers."

I felt her sword leave my neck, and the other four erupted in to laughter.

"It really does look odd, doesn't it?" said Inumata, extending his hand out as if to comfort me. "We were all in that same position, at one point."

"It's an honorable pledge." Sanageyama muttered, clearly pleased. "The pose, the stoutness in your eyes - a true samurai pledging to his daimyo."

Gamagoori shook his head. The tension lifted from the air as I stood again.

"Whatever. You've got a spot you prefer to eat at, leviathan? We'll ring in the new recruit with a whole feast - make up for the embarrassment, some."

'Anything with a buffet.'

He grinned. "A man after my own heart."


	2. Chapter 2 - Ryuko

The luxury district in which the Elite Four - and soon, Five - lived, offered far better accommodations than I might have ever imagined. Housing district was assigned by uniform ranking, and it felt as if we were kings and queens among men on those marble paths. We walked past glittering pools, jeweled gates and golden houses, and the restaurant Gamagoori had chosen was a red carpeted and pristine heaven, with a feast fit for a hundred leviathans, servants waiting on our every order.

For all the distaste I had for the rich, I certainly enjoyed the perks of it.

Unfortunately, I could not stay overnight with the rest. Satsuki had given me the relevant paperwork to return to her once the fraudulent uniform was finished, as the final step of full approval would be to meet with Ragyo personally.

And so I sat in Student Council's office the next day, the room silent outside of my tapping at the table. Ryuko and I were scheduled to meet within five minutes, and I could hardly contain my excitement. As if I were studying her appearance, I flipped through the stack of flyers set on the table again, feeling an unspoken familiarity in the gaze in her eyes.

And after five minutes passed by in five seconds, I heard the elevator doors from the room adjacent open. I shot to my feet and stood near the door, bated breath as I waited for her knock, and it came only moments after.

I opened the door, and she was there. She made her way past me, and as I closed the door behind her, a wide grin was across her face as she turned back to me.

She was only slightly shorter than me, black bangs with a single red streak like a waterfall in her hair. Her uniform was a deep black with long sleeves, a schoolgirl skirt, and at the chest, a fearsome pair of eyes with red sclera and blue pupils. As the flyer had shown, at her shoulders were green spikes.

"Jeez." Her eyes wandered over my width as if she could hardly believe it herself, spools of measuring tape looped between her wrists. "Good thing I brought the extra-large tape this time."

'It's a habit.' With a nod, we made our way to the table, and she gestured for me to stretch my arms out as she begun her measurements.

"New recruit, yeah? Satsuki mentioned you don't use Life Fibers."

'Right. She mentioned something about making a fraudulent uniform for me.'

Ryuko nodded, returning to the front and beginning the next set of shoulder measurements.

"Right, right." She shook her head. A constant grin was plastered to her face as she looked to me. "Jeez. I'm going to have to use a whole factory's worth for this one, though."

'Will that be alright?'

"Yeah. A good couturier never reveals her secrets."

Then, waist measurements. It was a wonder the tape didn't burst from the load.

"... Aaand, done."

With a nod, she sat back on the table and wrote my measurements on a clipboard prepared.

"And now, show me the armor. I'll need to know what it looks like to make a good forgery of it - just in appearance, though."

I nodded and closed my eyes, and when they opened again, Outcast was upon me.

"Jeez. Satsuki was right about it being mysterious." She shook her head and smirked as she jot down a few more notes. "Ragyo'll definitely know it's not a uniform if you summon it outright like that."

'Do you want me to only use the uniform's transformation when I meet with her, then?'

Ryuko shook her head. "Nah. I'm not a good enough couturier yet to make a perfect copy, and if she ever sees combat footage of you with the real one, she'll know you were lying."

'Ah.' I murmured, slightly flustered as I sheathed Outcast and sat next to her.

"Mmm… Let's see. I think what I'll do is make a mostly good copy, and you'll summon your armor over it." She nodded to herself. "Right. That sounds good. You can do that, right?"

'It forms over anything I wear, yeah. I can summon specific parts of it and keep it on - though it'll form instantly in response to any damage on my, ah, flesh body.'

She nodded again. "Mmm… Yeah. That might help, then… You know how to use Life Fibers, right?"

'I, ah…' I scratched the back of my neck and averted eye contact. I had never even attempted to wear a uniform, and I was silently grateful to always have been able to skip the droll monotony of fashion. '… I - never had to.'

She laughed and scrawled out another series of notes. "I'll make sure to teach you how, then. They're a fan of blood, so it'll feel like you're getting acupuncture the first few times. Just need to get you all accustomed to it so it looks like you're used to it."

She shot her vision to the clock above, and the smile across her face told me she knew I had seen it a second later. There was still a half-hour on our reservation.

"… So. Wanna talk about something? We've still got plenty of time left, you know." She winked. "Just the two of us."

'…I, ah…' I murmured, the beautiful woman far more composed than myself. Her cheeks dimpled with a fierce smile. She knew precisely the effect she had on me.

"Haha, jeez… Something you wanna ask?"

Her question sent my heart to my throat. For all my composure in battle prior, the task presented to me was as necessary and far more difficult; yet I knew that I had only one chance to ask it in private.

'It's, ah…' I scratched the back of my neck, silently praying an unseen force would eject the question for me. '… I'm - not certain it'd be appropriate to ask.'

With a teasing pout, she cocked her head. "I wonder, I wonder…" Just as quickly, she shook it. "Mmm… Maybe I'd say yes, you know. But you gotta ask."

'I - assume you're single, then.'

Her grin grew. "I sure am."

With a deep breath, I nodded. 'I - would you be interested in a date, sometime?'

The smile was at titanic proportions. "Ooo. With who?"

'I - you can say no, of course, I just -'

She stifled a laugh. "Haha, jeez… I like you. Sure."

I stifled a sigh of relief.

"Mmm… A few things, though." She flashed me a comforting smile. "I'm sure you know Ragyo can't know about it."

'Of course.' I murmured. 'I - wouldn't want to cause any trouble for you.'

"It'd be you, anyway." grinned Ryuko. "Still, I'd worry more about Satsuki. She's super protective of me. Bet she'll make you promise not to mistreat me - and if you ever do, even I won't be able to stop her from, uh…" She gestured vaguely to my crotch.

'Neutering me.'

We shared a laugh.

"Yeah. Exactly." She winked. "Sure you still want that date?"

'Of course. When do you want to go out?'

"Mmm… How about now? I'll let Satsuki know we'll be here longer than expected, and get some food sent up." She glanced over my width again. "… Lots of food."

'It's a habit.'

* * *

And so Ryuko and I sat together, the meat and skewers already set out, and -

"Jeez." Ryuko grinned as I placed another six skewers of bulgogi on the portable searing grates, our fourth pound of meat for the afternoon. "You sure you're gonna eat all of that?"

'Of course. I already ate two, didn't I?'

Ryuko laid her head on my left shoulder, warmth clinging to her face as much as my own. It was not from the spices.

"Yeah. I knew this would be a good idea for a date." she grinned. "Your grocery bill must be enormous."

'Like you wouldn't believe. Last week I bought two hundred eggs, twenty pounds of ground beef, twenty pounds of pork, fifty pounds of rice, and a case of diet soda.'

We shared a laugh. For all the nerves I had displayed earlier, the warmth of her presence soothed me just as quickly.

"Jeez." she grinned, shaking her head as she took another serving. "Satsuki told me all about yesterday. Said you and Gamagoori nearly cleared the entire place out by yourselves."

'It's the size that does it, you know. All the weight training makes the hunger shoot right up.'

"Sounds like you'll be a good fighter, too." grinned Ryuko.

Her expression suddenly grew pensive for a moment.

"… Hey, uh - weird question. Satsuki hasn't told you anything about, uh… Me or Ragyo, right?"

'I - I don't think so, no.' I murmured, just as flustered. 'She just mentioned you're their couturier in lieu of Nui.'

She nodded, slowly. "… Yeah. Just checking." She shook her head and laughed. "Sorry - just wasn't sure."

She pulled another skewer of cooked meat, biting it to bits with a ferocity matching my own. If I had thought Satsuki held an aggressive spark, it was clear her sister was my true match.

"Mmm… You run Fight Club, huh? What do you do in that?" She winked, and I finished the joke for her. 'Fight.'

"Haha, jeez… I guessed that. Is that it, though?" She shook her head and laughed. "Satsuki dumped so much information on me when I got home yesterday, I figured I should just ask you."

'Much more concise.' I grinned. 'That's it, though. People come in if they want - they know I'll beat the shit out of them - and if they're a good match, or have a good spirit, I think about letting them have a rematch or becoming a member.'

"Mmm… Pretty aggressive. I like it." She grinned. "Still, no members?"

I shook my head, taking another skewer to gnaw in the pauses. 'No one lived up to my standards. Got to be where people just came as a joke - wouldn't wear their real uniform at all for it, or would buy something cheap to see it get destroyed.'

"What'd happen then?"

'They learned not to joke with a two-ton leviathan. After that, people just started avoiding me. Thought I had anger issues.' I shook my head. 'I'm - aggressive, but…'

"Protective." chimed Ryuko. "I can tell, you know."

My cheeks went pink. My eyes darted in zizgags. I could never reveal the answer to her implicit question, yet my silence gave it to her just as clearly as if I had shouted it.

'… M-Maybe.' I murmured. 'You're - very pretty, you know.'

"Mmm… You look pretty good, too." winked Ryuko, a smile. "Look like a bear, and you're a teddy bear deep-down, huh?"

'If - you don't like that, I can tone it down. I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable.'

Underneath the table, her fingers intertwined with mine.

"Mmm… Don't worry. I like that. A lot of guys - uh, if Satsuki's not around - get real weird around me. Clear a wide berth for me, throw their bodies on puddles, things like that." She shook her head. "Satsuki likes that sort of stuff - but I don't really care."

She winked. "Don't think I didn't notice you not calling her 'Lady', either."

'Should I?'

She shook her head and laughed. "Nah. It's not a requirement. Nonon was the first one to call her Lady - 'cause she's got a bit of a crush on Satsuki, and knows she likes the praise. Inumata fell in for a while, then Gamagoori, and Sanageyama, and it just sorta stuck. They even started calling me Lady Ryuko."

'Should I?' I smirked.

"Mmm… If you want." She laughed. "It's pretty silly, though. We're not aristocrats - or, uh, we are - but you know. Not like the rest."

'If you were, I don't think I would've ever pledged.'

"Oh, she would have found a way. Threaten to expel you and doom you to poverty. Guess she can't take your uniform away, though."

'She could report me to Ragyo.'

"Nah. She'd never actually do that. If she wanted to kill you, she'd do it herself."

With our last skewer, she pinned the last of our meat.

"Not a fan of aristocrats, though?"

'Only you.'

She laughed. "Smooth. I don't like anyone in the luxury district either, though."

'Certainly not a pretty bunch.' I muttered. 'They could tell I didn't have a true uniform on. Stared at me like I was a slave.'

"Probably what they thought." chimed Ryuko. "That's all people without Three-Stars or Kamuis are to them - people to be used, workers to be exploited. Even with the same class, people younger than them…"

Her jaw clenched for a moment.

"… It's a good thing you hate them. Uh. I wouldn't want to date you if you didn't."

'I - I do.' I murmured, suddenly flustered. 'Believe me.'

She nodded, and laid her head on my shoulder again. Another hand added to our holding.

"Mmm… Good. You'll get along good with the rest, too. That's the most important thing."

She glanced up to me and smiled. "… I gotta leave in a bit, though. This was really nice."

Her happiness mirrored on my face. 'Yeah. Do you want to do it again sometime?'

"Definitely." she grinned. "We can talk about how shitty the rich are next time, huh?"

'I wouldn't decline it for the world.'

She nodded, gently pressing herself from me as she stood up. Catching the imminent opportunity, I stood by her, walking beside as we made our way to the door outside.

I realized a moment later we were standing far closer together than a half-hour ago. My hands traced along her back, cradling her in a warm embrace as she leaned against me.

At my back, I felt her hands repeat the same, quivering only a slight more than my own. Closer and closer, her face drew to my own.

"… You can." She winked. "Go ahead."

It was all the permission I needed. With shivering hands, I drew her closer to my chest -

\- and we shared a single kiss, and just as quickly a deeper second.

As we separated, our cheeks were red, our hearts beating so quickly we felt both our own and each other's, and her expression was the same wide smile I wore.

"Mmm…" She closed her eyes. "That's pretty nice. I've never done that before."

'Neither have I.'

"Seem pretty good at it." Her eyes opened. "You feel like a teddy bear, too. Nice and warm."

'I'm glad you like it.'

"I do." chimed Ryuko. "Second date, though… What class do you like the least?"

'… History of fashion.' I murmured. '12:00-1:00.'

She laughed. "I figured you were gonna say that. I'll call you out of class next Monday, then. See you then."

'See you then.'


	3. Chapter 3 - Imp & Devil

The announcement came over the school's intercom at precisely noon the following Monday, and as if I hadn't expected it at all, I stood sluggishly, and walked out just as slowly.

And once I was out of sight, I ran like I never had before.

* * *

The next meal was far more familiar than the last. With ample time for preparation, Cooking Club had brought up enough ramen to fill two elephants, and a swift bribe to their president assured word of the deliveries would never reach Ragyo's ears.

"Jeez. Did you skip breakfast today?" grinned Ryuko, catching the pace of my slurping out of the corner of her eyes.

'I figured you knew how many calories I'd need.'

She nodded, twirling the noodles in her chopsticks with one hand, running her hand along me with the other.

"Yeah." She shook her head as if she could hardly believe it herself. "Mmm... I've been looking forward to this all weekend, you know."

'Me too - and not just for skipping the exam.'

"Oh?" Her features dimpled with a smile. "And I thought you just liked me for the food."

'As if I could ever say no to spending time with you.'

"Jeez. Stop trying to be so smooth." she laughed, fully enjoying it. "You're supposed to be a big, brutish Fight Club president."

'I can be that, too - but only in battle.'

"Mmm… Still pretty aggressive, huh?" She smiled. "I like that - gives us something in common. Satsuki and I train a lot together - she's the better fighter, but even she's surprised how far I'll go when I'm in the middle of it."

'What do you mean?'

She shook her head and laughed. "One time, when we were fifteen, Satsuki and I were training right here - uh, no table. I've got a set of dual daggers I'm used to, and Satsuki has her sword. Kept beating me right in to the wall - and I kept dodging, trying to get behind her, and once I did…"

The room filled with her laughter, and seeing the date amused so, I couldn't help but smile.

"I put them right to her forehead, and said if she moved another inch I was gonna shear her bald."

My laughter matched her own. 'Did you win?'

"Depends who you ask." winked Ryuko. "She says it doesn't count, 'cause in a real fight, an enemy would take their hair being cut over losing. But she did concede right after - so, you know."

With another slurp, she finished her serving, a comically small bowl to my comically large, and laid her head on my shoulder again. With warmth filling my stomach and heart, I wrapped an arm around her, careful to avoid any spillage of the broth as I ate.

"Mmm… I wish we could cuddle, after." Her eyes lit up. "Maybe I could bring a blanket and pillow in here, next time. I'd have to make sure to shut the elevator off, so Nui can't come in."

'I - that sounds - really nice.' I murmured, my cheeks scorching.

"Sounds like we just scheduled our third date." she chimed. "I did want to ask something, though. It's probably pretty personal, but… I was talking with Satsuki, and she mentioned that - uh - your parents…"

'…ah.' I murmured, catching the trend of it. 'I - suppose she told you everything off from my records.'

Sensing the tension in her voice, I wrapped my arms around her and shook my head. 'It's alright. It's accurate - I never knew my biological parents. They abandoned me on the doorsteps of my adoptive parents - or at least, as they told me, that they found me on their doorstep one day.'

"Yeah." nodded Ryuko, laying her head on my chest. "She did a full background check on you, you know. Pretty thorough."

We shared a laugh. The tension drained from her tone.

"You never wanted to look in to it, though?"

'I never had any desire to, and my parents also don't want to say no to a two-ton leviathan.'

"Jeez." grinned Ryuko. "Do they know - uh - your lack of Life Fibers?"

'They sure do.' I chimed cheerfully. 'It showed up when I was thirteen, and as soon as they found out, an hour-long lecture to never, ever reveal the secret to anyone. They even considered not sending me to Honnōji.'

"They don't know where it comes from either, then?" said Ryuko, cocking her head. "I mean, I guess… Maybe your biological parents would know, but…" She shook her head. "…I understand if you don't want to look for them, though."

'There's no need for it.' I muttered, tracing along her back. 'They abandoned me. Half the reason I started Fight Club in my first year was to get out my anger over it - and to start a club, I had to claim it as a One-Star.'

"Risky, risky…" grinned Ryuko, shaking her head ruefully. "Good thing you never tried to claim it as a Two-Star."

'I'm only smart enough for that, you know,' I said, and we shared a laugh.

"Mmm… Yeah." She nodded and smiled. "We should both be getting to class, soon, though. Gotta get an education and all that."

She winked. "Especially you."

'Are you implying something about my intelligence?' I laughed, shaking my head ruefully.

"Nah. But I can check your grades, too. Average in everything but phys-ed and combat training."

'I'm top of my class in both, you know.'

"Yeah." She grinned, and her fingers traced along my chest. "I saw that, too. One of the reasons Satsuki took a second look at you."

'A second look at me?'

"Yeah. She, uh…" She laughed and shook her head. "Always thought it was weird there was one club in the whole school with only one member. Thought it was a glitch in the system at first - then she kept getting yearly reports, and decided to ignore it, until…"

She shook her head again. "Wanted to get a fifth member before Tri-City Raids. Last call, and all that - and when she went around the clubs, everyone was way too weird. Wouldn't be a good fit."

'Except for me.' I chimed, and we shared a laugh.

"Yeah. Exactly."

She pressed herself away, and we stood again, making our way to a familiar door. We pressed with each other as close as ever, and our hands returned to our preassigned positions as I held her in my arms.

"Mmm… No food, next time. Make sure you eat beforehand, okay?"

'I will.'

"Mmm… One last thing."

Closer and closer, until -

\- the third kiss, the fourth, the fifth, and a final, deepest sixth.

As we pulled away, our smiles matched again.

"Mmm… Hey." she murmured, suddenly pensive. "Did - you wanna make out?"

'I - only if you want to.' I murmured, suddenly flustered. 'I wouldn't want to do anything you feel uncomfortable with. We'll go as slow as you want.'

She closed her eyes. I saw tears budding at the tips of her eyelids.

"… Outcast."

'I - did I do something wrong?'

She shook her head. I had never seen such a wide smile claim her before.

"… I don't actually want to make out, right now. But - I really, really like that you asked like that. I really appreciate it."

Her eyes opened, slightly misty.

"Seriously. I really like that you always ask me if I'm comfortable. Don't ever change that, okay?"

'I - of course.' I murmured. 'I - I just don't want you to feel uncomfortable. We never have to do anything you don't want to.'

Her fingers pressed open the door, and gestured for me to leave first.

"I'll see you later today, okay? Gotta head out soon and finish up your uniform, too - and Ragyo, Friday." Her eyes closed, with the wonderful smile below. "See you then, Outcast. Make sure you survive."

'See you then, Ryuko. I will.'

* * *

Later that day, Ryuko and I were called to Student Council's office again. It was for a purpose far less romantic than the last visit, and one far more difficult.

"Here it is." muttered Ryuko, placing the fraudulent uniform on the table. As she had said, it had been sewn to look like a shrunken version of Outcast, and I felt some kinship with the inanimate object as I displayed it to Satsuki. I was almost disappointed it couldn't talk, yet I shoved the ridiculous idea of talking clothing out of my mind without a second thought.

Satsuki's eyes alit with a curiosity matching my own. Stoic interrogation entered her gaze as her nails traced along the chest, carefully gouging a single red strand of a Life Fiber from inside the fabric.

"… Quite a piece, quite a piece." she murmured. "There's no mask to it, Ryuko?"

"Nah. Just the one-piece. It'll expand in to the skull when it transforms, so, like I said, he just needs to get the timing right on summoning the real one."

Satsuki's nails pierced deeper in to the uniform, digging along the internals of the chest. It was rough treatment of an artifact so precious, but if it could not pass Satsuki's examination, it was a certainty it would fail Ragyo's.

"… correct." muttered Satsuki. "Outcast - she's taught you how to use Life Fibers, correct?"

'Right. They've taken enough blood from me to fill an elephant, at this point.'

"It happens." Ryuko grinned, knowing my struggles well. "I almost thought you were going to pass out the first time you tried it on."

"Fortunately, you won't be fighting with the uniform transformed. I assume you're much more experienced with your variant, regardless."

'Right. I can't imagine getting used to losing that much blood.'

Ryuko shrugged. "You do get used to it. Still, you won't need to have the syringes active for more than a few minutes. Let's show Satsuki how -"

\- the elevator roared to life outside. In an instant Satsuki's eyes widened, and just as quickly, a wave of dread struck her expression.

A second later, it struck Ryuko as well, and in unison the two sisters sighed heavily.

"Today." Satsuki muttered as she planted her face in her hands. "Of all days."

"You don't think she knows, right?" said Ryuko, her tone just as filled with dread.

"No, I doubt it. Simply an annoying pest at an inopportune time."

Gesturing for me to stand, Satsuki sighed again. "Outcast - make sure you open the door for our esteemed, lovely, couturier. She can't reach the doorknob by herself, after the latest renovation I had done."

My face filled with the same dread. I hadn't the slightest idea what the assuredly awful woman may be like in person, though Nonon and the rest's testimonies were enough to set me to steel myself all the same. As if it were my own gallows, I approached the door, bated breath as I enjoyed the last minutes of my life prior to meeting the hellish presence.

Outside, the elevator came to a screeching halt, and I heard the doors open. The click of heels tapped along the floor like nails on a chalkboard. The monster I was about to face would be an annoyance of titanic proportions. Behind me, Ryuko and Satsuki were preparing the same fraudulent smile I was already wearing.

A knock rung from the door. As if I were attempting to prolong the matter, I murmured a low 'just a second', waited three to place my hand on the doorknob, and opened it in six.

And within that doorway, there she was. She was a fashionable sight in the worst sense of the word, a garish and dwarfish figure that stood a foot shorter than I. Long blonde hair billowed like bandages down her figure; a pink bowtie laid in her hair. Her right eye was covered by a pink fabric scrap, and as she pressed her way in to the room, the frills of her dress waved in synchronization with her step.

Even with the added height of her white heels, she still could not have reached the doorknob on her own. I felt as if I were an amateur warlock who had just failed their first summoning in apocalyptic fashion, and here, the demon, the adult in a child's body, stood.

"Ooooo!" She spun to face me, running her fingers through her hair. Her hands began to prod me as if I were a mannequin set for the latest line. "Is this your butler, Sat-Sat-Satsuki? What a brutish figure!"

Her voice was the sound of breaking glass, and I began to truly believe she was an adult transplanted in to the body of a child. Thick scars cracked along her missing right eye like tree roots, and her nose constantly wrinkled with excitement.

"No, Nui. This is my latest recruit." sighed Satsuki.

Nui spun wildly, her eye flirting in zigzags between myself and the two still safe at the other end of the room. "Oooo! Is that really true? Don't tell me you're playing a prank on me!"

"It's true." muttered Ryuko, praying for divine intervention to strike the beast down.

"Don't be silly, Ryuko-ko! He doesn't even have a uniform! What a drab outfit, too!"

"It -" - Satsuki pinched her temples - " - was destroyed in my initial duel with him. Ryuko has woven a Three-Star for him."

And now, if the torture weren't focused enough, Nui was regarding me with far, far more interest. The groping began anew.

"Oooo! That makes sense! But doesn't it feel so awful, to be so undressed?"

'Terrible. Awful. Horrific. Dreadful.' I muttered, searching for another series of adjectives that described the woman before me. She threw her head up with a laugh, and with another laugh she ran to Ryuko's side. She was a rodent in swiftness and personality.

"Ooo, is this it?" A wide grin grew across Nui's face as her fingers poked and prodded at the fabric. Her too-sharp nails were incessantly seeking to negotiate through to its internals, just the same as Satsuki's prior, though her expression held far less care for the damage done to it. "I didn't know you were so in to fashion, Ryuko-ko! Isn't fashion wonderful?"

"You bet." Ryuko muttered. "Absolutely great. Please stop touching my work."

"Oh!" preened the couturier, yanking the uniform in to her arms. "But I can improve it, Ryuko-ko, let me take it home with me! I'll bring it back even better!"

"No." Ryuko extended her hand, as if attempting to yank a chew toy from a dog's mouth. It was clear no amount of politeness would dissuade the couturier, though I couldn't blame the girlfriend for assuming what works with one species of bitch might have worked with another. "Give me the uniform back, Nui."

"I'll bring it back! I promise!" Nui shouted, and before Ryuko could stop her, she was running as if she were making off with a precious artifact. She rushed like an unchained dog and rapidly made her way to the exit, and as she passed through the door -

\- she tripped over my precariously extended right leg, and her face met with the wall of the main lobby. A low groan of pain passed her lips alongside the echo of the sudden impact through the steel.

I strode over to the still-twitching sight, crouching over her and retrieving her stolen cargo, and as if to comfort her I offered a hand to help her stand.

'Sorry. I'm a bit clumsy.'

The glint in her eye as she turned, and took my hand, told me she had presumed it to be an accident. I enjoyed it far more because of it.

"Aaaareee you suuuuurreee?" she slurred out, shaking droplets of blood from her nose. Her fingers were still yanking at the fabric, though my width and muscularity were the surest security for it. "I can improve itttt!"

'No. I wouldn't want you to overwork yourself.'

"It's no trouble at all!"

The childlike insect was insatiable. Again and again, she sought to tear it from my grip, though with a far stronger leviathan before her she realized quickly she had lost.

"Let me have it!"

'No.'

"Please?"

'No.'

"Now?"

'No. Maybe some other time.'

Her eye lit up, and with a look of satisfaction she spun like a spastic child. Staggering drunkenly she nodded to me, and like the same spastic child, ran across the lobby to the elevator. The doors slammed shut behind her, and she was gone.

I had finally tamed the rodent.

With a sigh, I made my way back to Ryuko and Satsuki, their laughter already echoing through the room in earnest, and Ryuko looked as if she wished to kiss me and never let me go. I met her gaze with no less love, and with a wide smile I returned the precious artifact to her. Tears of laughter coated her face and her breath escaped as pained gasps. I thought the two sisters might pass out, so ferocious was their laughter ringing alongside my own. The schadenfreude had claimed each of us.

"M-My fucking -" Ryuko panted between another bout - "- w-what did you even say to her?"

'Something - something about being too clumsy -'

"I hope dearly, dearly Inumata's camera caught that." Satsuki said as her hands smacked against the table, cackling like a witch.

Ryuko and I fell suddenly silent. Our eyes widened in realization.

"...c-camera?" she stuttered, her tone carrying the same worry now growing in my mind. "H-He doesn't have cameras in here, right?"

Not catching the reference, Satsuki cocked her head. "No, of course not. It would present a hackable source. He only keeps surveillance on the main lobby, though I don't understand why you would be worried -"

\- her eyes widened, and a protective spark lit with realization.

"- Outcast." she grunted, her tone suddenly acidic. "The day you and Ryuko met, she asked for an extension. Why was that?"

"W-Wait, Satsuki, wait -" sputtered Ryuko, flailing her hands out - "Let - let me explain, okay?"

"Ryuko. I wish to speak with Outcast - in private. Outcast - sit."

She said it in a tone that belied neutering. My thighs clenched as if to protect it, and my limbs had never felt so weak in my life as I sank in a seat across from her.

And Ryuko's eyes fell with the same dread. With a slow nod, she stood, tapping gently my shoulder as she passed.

"Just - be careful what you say, okay?" Ryuko whispered to me. "Real protective."

The chair felt electric. I heard her footsteps echo through the chamber behind me, the fraudulent uniform still set on the table between the executioner and I.

The door opened, and she was gone.

Across the table, Satsuki's eyes drilled in to me with enough scorn I thought I might spontaneously combust, and I dared not meet her gaze. Her interrogation scorched my features like a sun I could not avoid.

"Outcast. Explain why Ryuko asked for an extension on your initial meeting - and why she would be worried."

'Y-Yes, Lady Satsuki.' I murmured, speaking to the floor. 'I - she's - very beautiful. I - a-asked her out on a date, and made it clear she could say no if she wanted to. I would never want to make her uncomfortable.'

"I would execute you on the spot if you did." stated Satsuki. The fire never left her eyes. "What was her answer?"

'She - joked with me at first, but - said yes, and that she likes me. She had Cooking Club send up Korean barbeque, and - taught me how to use Life Fibers.'

"Whose idea was the meal?"

'H-Her's.'

"Are you certain?"

'Y-Yes, Lady Satsuki.'

"Do you have reason to think she was ever uncomfortable? You're quite larger than her, and were in a room alone with her. She might have simply said yes out of fear. Did you ever consider that?"

'I - I really hope she didn't.' I muttered, clenching back tears. 'I - I don't think she did. I asked her to make sure - and she let me kiss her.'

"Is that all you've done?"

My heart caught in my lungs as I heard her sword unsheathe. The metal screeched against the table.

'Y-Yes. Just kissing. She - wanted to cuddle, next date.'

As if taunting prey, she tapped the tip of her sword against the table. A deep cut drew against the steel, portending the same fate.

"I presume you know I'll be corroborating your story with Ryuko. A single line out of place - or any mistreatment of her - and I'll send your mangled corpse in a box back to your parents."

She shook her head, far more composed than me.

"How many dates have you had with her?"

'T-Two, so far. She - called me out of History of Fashion, earlier. We had ramen.'

Satsuki's expression softened, and I stifled a gasp of relief.

"… Hm. I'll corroborate the rest with her. Leave. Do not speak with her on your way out."

Not wishing to give the shark more than one chance to kill me, I nodded and made my way out.

* * *

The seven of us stood within the main hall of the Kiryuin family mansion the following Friday, Ragyo's arrival a certainty within minutes. The hall was lit in golden chandeliers, and every piece of furniture that laid within the accursed domicile was covered in Life Fiber reinforced silk. Across the walls, stained glass windows exulting the supremacy of fashion. There were marble columns in rows leading down to the set of titanic double doors through which Ragyo would enter, and my senses were as firmly trained as a man waiting for his executioner.

Because I was.

If I failed, here, I would leave headless, and Ryuko boyfriend-less. Sweat drew down my brow like a cooked pig, and I half-wondered if Ragyo intentionally kept the temperature so warm.

The uniform was near-set to burst underneath my size, and I surmised quickly Ryuko had used the last of her Life Fibers in storage on the piece. She stood at the adjacent wall alongside Satsuki with no familiarity in her eyes, her face as blank as a stone, and as my eyes darted about the room I regarded her with the same expression. We were not to show any recognition, or portend any sign that our relationship was more than professional.

Then, at the end of the great lobby, the double doors opened. They scraped like concrete against marble, horrific symphony as unpleasant in sound as in sight. It was as if the entire scene had been planned by the devilish woman herself, and she drew forth with a visage far more pleased than our own.

And there she was. Her lips were upturned in a wry smile, cracked like dry bones; her hair gleamed as a literal rainbow, and appendages no less skeletal were partially shrouded by a sleeveless gray robe. Even as she strode over to us, she was more ghastly than human. The tapestries around us seemed to shift with her movement, as if pale mimics.

"Outcast, was it?" she preened, running her fingers through glistening gray. Her voice crackled as if it would fall apart at any moment.

'Yes.' I stated, lightly bowing my head. My movements were practiced; Ryuko had drilled them in to me. A twenty degree angle - and no more.

The apparition towered over me. Her fingers gripped lightly at the base of my neck; her nails tapped. Underneath the noose's grip, I stayed silent as prey, prepared to be slaughtered at any moment.

Eyes I weren't sure were curious or executioner dug deeply at the base of my skull, and as I felt her grasp leave me, I stood straight to make eye contact with her again.

"An odd uniform, isn't it?" she said, throwing her head up with a laugh. "I've never seen such a sight before."

'Lady Satsuki allowed my choice of appearance for it, after she destroyed the first in a duel. I thought it might be an intimidating sight.'

The words tasted like acid in my mouth. She was forcing me to swallow every last drop.

"You've certainly chosen well for it. Why, you may be even bigger than Ira, here!" she said, gesturing to Gamagoori. "I would love to see it transformed, if you would grant me that."

She knew I was at her mercy. My sweat drew in thick streams down my neck. Sunken holes, filled with snakelike eyes, dug deeply against my own.

'Of course.'

My mind was singularly focused on the vigorous training Ryuko had put me through for the past week. At my mental command, the syringes within the fabric began to poke and prod at my skin. They smelled blood in the water just as much as the ghoul before me did.

'Outcast.'

In an instant, the uniform sprang to life - from within its cloth and fabric a rapid expansion took place, blood pooling and mixing with sweat as Life Fibers cradled my body in vampiric fervor - at the apex of the transformation stood a near-replica of Outcast -

\- and before she could catch sight of the true uniform, Outcast's true armor unsheathed over the fabric. Stars lit my vision and blackened the edges of my sight, as if I were a deep sea diver who had come up for air too early. The stress of activating both Life Fibers and Outcast was weighing heavily, the armor feeling as if it were twenty tons rather than two.

If she had asked me to walk more than a few meters in the suit constricted so tightly across my neck that my veins bulged beneath, there was no force in the world that would prevent her from ascertaining the ruse. Two Outcasts were far weaker than one.

Her fingers steepled, and through dulled senses I heard her applause crack through the air like a whip. I was clinging to the last vestiges of my consciousness as I offered a last tepid nod.

"How wonderful! It truly is an intimidating sort, after all!" she laughed, cackling like a fiend at the demon. "You chose quite well, I agree!" Her eyes dimpled with thick crevices, her hair blowing about in the air as if she had called it forth through witch craft.

Carefully, her fingers traced along the outer edges of the gauntlets, and incessantly, her grasp molested the pauldrons and neck. It felt as if she were truly unable to believe the sight before her, so alien of a power it was - yet appearing, I hoped, as a familiar sight to her. As Satsuki had done before her, her grip carved a small sample forth - a prepared smatter of Life Fibers I had kept as a thin layer over Outcast's armor - and her smirk grew to fill her face as she regarded it.

"They're such wonderful materials, don't you agree?" she preened as one hung from a single long nail. It curled around as if it were a charmed snake. "Perhaps after Tri-City Raids, Nui can weave you one that fits better. You look as if you're set to burst in that poor outfit."

Practiced, I laughed alongside her, and as if on cue the others followed me - Gamagoori and Nonon at my left, Inumata and Sanageyama at my right.

"...however." Ragyo muttered as the laughter died down, her eyes suddenly pensive. "There is one quite odd design about it. Has Ryuko made a modification to it?"

Not knowing if she were attempting to trap me or not, my tone was as stoic as my expression. 'I'm not certain what you mean, madam.'

She laughed again and drew her fingers to the pauldrons. As they released me again, a far different material dripped.

Sweat.

The physics were always odd with Outcast.

As if she were a hunter who had found her prey and was taunting it prior to slaughter, she shook her head ruefully. "I simply cannot understand how this could occur. Your sweat should occur on the inside of the uniform, not the outside, no?"

She shook her head again. A cold and unyielding silence filled the room, and the rest were as astonished as I. There was no practice for this moment, and I hadn't mentioned the bizarre property to Satsuki and Ryuko. I had never imagined it would become relevant.

Fortunately, for all my oafish intelligence and brutish strength, I had an answer.

'Ah - that,' I murmured, wiping another thin stream of sweat off Outcast's neck. Desperately, I hoped she was as much a fan as embarrassing facts as she appeared to be. They were always the most effective lies.

'... It's - quite embarrassing, admittedly.' I averted my gaze. 'I - haven't been fully accustomed to the uniform yet, as it was only finished earlier this week. Before we departed, I realized that I had accidentally put it on inside-out.'

"He's always a heavy perspirer," Gamagoori said as he pat me on the back to accentuate the lie. "One of the challenges of being this size."

Ragyo regarded this with bemused interest, her fingers still laid across my pauldrons. At any moment, her nails might slit my throat open and answer the question at everyone's lips. The movement of her eyes interrogated me for truth, and all I could offer was another aversion of my gaze, mockingly embarrassed.

And just as quickly as it had started, she threw her head up with uproarious laughter. Like an instrument tuned too sharply, it shot through my senses, my deep sigh of relief stifled through another bout of fake laughter far more relaxing than the last. She gestured for me to sheathe the uniform and join with her on this, and the rest performed admirable duty in the authenticity of it. It was as if I truly had revealed such an embarrassing secret.

As the room fell to silence to allow Ragyo the lead of it, Outcast - and the uniform still constricting my throat like a snake - melted to air, and I was free from the accursed prison. Her eyes, still upon me, belied that the impromptu deception might have worked after all. I met her gaze again, and as if to comfort me, she removed her fingers from me and turned to Satsuki.

"What an amusing recruit, Satsuki!" Daughter and mother laughed, and it was impossible to tell which was fake. "Make certain he's well deodorized for Tri-City Raids - if he's as strong as you say, he'll work up quite a sweat showing the supremacy of REVOCS."

"Of course, mother," Satsuki smirked. "We'll make certain of it."

As if on cue, Ryuko. "They won't stand a chance."

And as quickly as it had started, Ragyo pressed open the doors with a final laugh, and she was gone. An eerie silence clung to the air with the final exorcism performed, and her footsteps still rang from the room adjacent.

Quickly, Satsuki gestured for the rest of us to leave.

And we were gone. We didn't speak again until we returned to Honnōji.

* * *

"Jeez." Ryuko muttered as she laid back in her chair beside me, back in the relative safety of Student Council's office. Inumata had been checking the room for listening devices every day since I was recruited, and with his latest sweep finished and negative, we could finally speak openly.

"I might have shit myself." Nonon murmured in a tone I wasn't sure was joking.

Inumata sat down across from us. Deep pockmarks of stress still marked his face as if she might return at any moment. "What a horrific sight she is." He shook his head. "Fortunately, it appears our Outcast shall live for another day."

'Fortunately.' I muttered. I could still barely believe we had escaped that hellish mansion.

"Jeez. Even the leviathan's got the fear put in him now." Nonon grinned. "At least after Tri-City Raids, we can -" Suddenly she stopped and placed her hand over her mouth, and just as quickly the other three fell silent again. It was as if she were about to reveal a family secret.

Because she was.

The acidic tone Satsuki had always taken with the woman, the scorn in Ryuko's eyes when their mother was around - and the information both had withheld from me. Theories had lit in my mind regardless of my intent, and now, Nonon's latest outburst had only confirmed it further.

Yet as I looked to Ryuko, her eyes were perplexed as my own. With a cock of her head, her eyes darted between the four original members. Just as quickly, they met with Satsuki's, and her eyes widened.

"… Wait, seriously? You still haven't told him?"

Satsuki shook her head. "The information is not relevant until -"

"- you gotta at least tell him! Jeez." Ryuko shook her head, aghast at the orchestrated ignorance. "Outcast - Satsuki hasn't told you anything about Ragyo, has she?"

'I - have a few guesses.' I muttered, still not wishing to divulge my true thoughts. 'It's clear none of you are fond of her, and Satsuki mentioned that my lack of Life Fibers would be more of a boon than a hindrance.'

"Correct." Satsuki stated plainly. "As I said before, there is no reason to -"

"- he risked his life for us, and you're not even going to tell him until after?" Ryuko retorted.

(Inumata) "It - really would be quite pertinent to tell him, Lady Satsuki. Better prior the raids than after."

Satsuki closed her eyes. A deep sigh crested her face, and with a nod, she gestured to Ryuko.

"Go ahead. I had thought it would be best to keep it secret until after the Tri-City Raids, to assure his loyalty - but given that you two…" Her fingers twisted themselves in pretzels, and there was a certain pleasure I enjoyed from seeing the leader so flustered. She still did not wish to reveal Ryuko's and I's relationship. "… You'll tell him, regardless of what I say, won't you?"

Ryuko grinned. The leader understood the situation perfectly. "Yeah." Shaking her head and regarding me carefully, she began.

"… Uh, I guess I'll get the big thing out of the way first. We're going to kill Ragyo."

'I had guessed as much.' I grinned, and a wave of relief struck her face.

"Good. 'Cause we're gonna do it after Tri-City Raids - by that time, we'll have enough battle information on the new Goku Uniforms to be able to upgrade them as much as we need to."

(Gamagoori) "If we can't kill her outright, we'll have a hell of a fight on our hands. We need to be as strong as we possibly can be before we try it."

Sensing the imminent question, Inumata held his hand to me. "I shall see what I can do for your suit of armor, Outcast, if you'll allow me to research it further."

'Of course. I wouldn't mind solving the mystery of where it comes from - I've been with it long enough that I could use a new one.'

(Nonon) "Yeah. Plus, uh - no offense, Ryuko, but Nui's a better couturier. If Ragyo catches wind of this, she'll have some serious shit prepared."

(Satsuki) "Rei and Nui will hunt us afterward if we succeed, regardless. As you might imagine, given that your ability does not use Life Fibers, it might prove useful against women so familiar with their inner workings."

'Is there a counter to Life Fibers that I'm not aware of?'

(Inumata) "If there was, you could shut down all fashion companies across the world instantly." He grinned as if he were fantasizing it. "Regardless, there is not - that we know of, of course."

(Ryuko) "Guess you get to skip the blood." she smirked. Her hand extended to me for a moment, then shot back just as quickly as she remembered the secrecy. "Still, uh, you deserve to know why we're doing it, too."

With a deep sigh, she drew a deeper breath. Her chest quivered as she closed her eyes, memories aflutter in her mind as she prepared to relay the tale.

"… Can the rest of you leave for this?"

As if it were practiced, the rest stood. They quickly shuffled through the double doors and to the soundproof lobby, and the doors slammed shut behind.

Ryuko took my hands in her's. It was clear the matter was far more personal than I might have imagined, and always the protective one, I met her gaze with my own. I was hanging intently on her every word.

"… She's - Ragyo's a…"

She shook her head. The name was still just as toxic in her mouth as when she had first said it.

"… Satsuki doesn't - like talking about it. That's probably why she was waiting so long to tell you - it doesn't have anything to do with you, personally."

She grinned and laid her head at my shoulder. Our fingers intertwined.

"I guess I'll start at the beginning. I wanna make sure you know every last detail.

… So, when Satsuki and I were younger - uh, babies - our dad tried to kidnap us. We were too young to remember it, but we picked up a decent bit of information from Ragyo and the police report. Not that we take her at face value on it, anyway, but…"

She shook her head.

"… It went on for a few weeks. REVOCS and the police were cooperating fully on it and all that, and it was all over the news at the time. Constantly fleeing with us in tow, stuff like that. Then, one day, we just… They just found us, dumped on the side of the road. Like he had just left us there for some reason, or like he thought they'd stop searching for him. Dad was a real eccentric guy anyway - uh, from what I've heard - so, it wasn't that big a stretch to think he just went stir-crazy. Really obsessed with his research on Life Fibers."

She closed her eyes. Tears budded at the tips of her eyelids.

"…s-so, they… found him dead in a river nearby. Everyone thought it was a suicide, so the case got closed pretty quickly."

Taking the implicit request, I wrapped my arms around her. Her breath warmed me as she laid her head on my chest.

"But obviously, Satsuki and I - even when we liked Ragyo, we still wanted to know more about our dad, you know? But whenever we'd ask, Ragyo would always just - find some excuse not to talk about it. That she didn't like thinking about it, or that it was more important to focus on the future. Especially REVOCS' future, since Satsuki'll inherit it when Ragyo dies. Uh - Satsuki's the older by nine months. She took a year off before highschool, so she could be in the same year as me.

But, you know, we started trying to look in to it on our own, but… It just kept not adding up. Every time we checked the news at the time, it was all the same story - like they had been paid to run it. You'd think something big like the president of REVOCS' husband dying would be big news, right?"

'Right.' I murmured, soothing her back by touch.

"But they didn't even - it just came and went. The only ones that even speculated on anything were like, super small papers with barely anyone reading them. The media's corrupt as shit - but even then, we knew something was really up.

… A-And so…"

Her tears wet my shirt, and as she looked up to me, her teeth were grit with ferocious anger.

"… So, when I was twelve, Satsuki...got in to an argument with Ragyo about it. She ended up saying to Ragyo - she accused her of killing our father, of having him assassinated, and… Ragyo got really, really angry. I was scared she was going to hurt Satsuki - and I was in the same room, and she just… I'll never forget that f-fucking look on Ragyo's face when she looked to me - and she told Satsuki she was going to show her why she shouldn't disobey her. She pulled me by my hair to my bedroom - and Satsuki kept screaming and gripping behind her, pleading with her to stop - and she locked the door behind her a-and...

Y-You know. She molested me. T-Told me to scream so Satsuki could hear it."

My eyes widened - in an instant my blood boiled. I had half a mind to return to the Kiryuin family mansion and tear the bitch in half myself. Sensing the anger we now shared, Ryuko nodded, and her jaw clenched so tightly it might shatter.

"It's not as hard to talk about, now that I can get angry about it. Satsuki, too, but… I don't know. I think she still feels like a tiny part of it was her fault, even though deep down, she knows it wasn't. Some things just need time."

'… That's…' I muttered, barely able to speak under the red haze threatening to swallow me whole and never spit me out.

"… Yeah. That's - why she acted like that. It doesn't anything to do with you as a person."

'…y-yeah. Of course. I understand.'

She opened her eyes, her body still tense, her face still flush with anger.

"… The next day, Ragyo said the type of shit you'd expect. That it was Satsuki's fault she did it, and that she had done it out of anger, because she was hurt Satsuki would accuse her like that. She kept saying Satsuki, over and over, like she thought I would blame her for it instead if she said it enough, and… I was still just a kid, so… I-I really started to think it was Satsuki's fault. You don't wanna think your mom is capable of something like that."

'…yeah. That's - that's understandable. It wasn't your fault.'

She nodded. "Yeah. I know it wasn't either of our faults, now. It took a while to realize that.

It's not the only time Ragyo's done it, either. Every annual shareholders meeting, she'll grope me - in front of everyone. She stares at Satsuki the entire time, like she's trying to still blame it on her."

'I - assume they…'

She nodded and sighed. "Yeah. Millionaire and billionaire shitheads don't care, so long as the dollar keeps flowing. Even if anyone did give a shit, the media would just cast it as some weird conspiracy theory. Consequences are for poor people."

'Maybe we should kill the shareholders, too.'

"One step at a time." she grinned. "They'll heel once Satsuki takes over REVOCS. She's got a lot of ideas on what to do with them."

'She'll make the French Revolution look like a peaceful debate.'

"Nah." She shook her head. "Guillotine is too quick. She'll drag it out, nice and slow. Maybe throw them in to one of the impoverished districts and see how a community brainstorming session works out."

'The perks of being a heir to the world's largest fashion company.'

She grinned. "Yeah. About time someone used it for good. Still, though.

It wasn't until Satsuki's fourteenth birthday that we started talking again. Ragyo gave us ownership over Honnōji Academy, like she was trying to bribe us, and… I knew it would be awkward if we didn't talk before then, so that night… We just talked - a-and cried for hours. I lost count of how many times she apologized - and how many times I told her it wasn't her fault. I felt even guiltier about it - that I could ever blame her for it - and the more I thought about it, the angrier I got. And the angrier I got, the angrier Satsuki got."

'Sometimes it's better to be angry.'

She grinned. "That's why you're my boyfriend.

So, the first year we attended Honnōji, we started putting together our plan for revenge, together. Satsuki and I knew that no matter how strong we got - I mean… It's Ragyo. She's head of the largest fashion company in the world. There's top-secret projects even we don't know about.

So we needed - you know. An elite squadron of people we could trust for it. It needed to be handpicked, people we could trust, but people who… You know. The best."

'Of the best.'

"Yeah. We actually - it was my suggestion - started looking through court cases, felony charges, things like that. If we could find someone elite through there, and we managed to use REVOCS connections to get them off the hook, they'd be loyal to us. Blackmail."

'…then - Inumata, Nonon, Gamagoori, Sanageyama…'

Her eyes lowered. She still held some shame for it.

"… Yeah. We were still scared, but it was the only way we could trust them, at the time."

'…yeah.' I muttered, not entirely certain what to say. 'It's - understandable. I can tell they would still want to help you even without it, now.'

She smiled and nodded, closing her eyes. At the tips of her eyelids I saw tears forming. "…yeah. They're - really, really good friends." Her eyes opened. "And now, a wonderful boyfriend as well."

The happiness on her face mirrored on my own.

"Satsuki was the one who found Nonon, first, when all three of us were fourteen. She was going to jail for advocating the assassination of Prime Minister Shido."

My eyes widened. 'She - her? She was the one who -'

Ryuko shook her head. "No, she wasn't the one who did it. She joined up with the group that was planning to do it, though. You remember the benefits cuts that asshole put through, right?"

'… Yeah.' I murmured, suddenly pensive. 'A lot of people got thrown out on the streets - or worse. The whole cabinet voted to confirm those cuts alongside their own salary increase.'

Ryuko nodded, and sighed. "It's just the same shit, constantly. It's about time some yuppie shithead got a bullet through their head for it."

'I couldn't agree more.'

We shared a laugh over the match.

"… It's really nice being able to talk about stuff like that openly. Satsuki and I are so used to putting on a fake smile for all those rich assholes - I mean, I guess we're rich, too - but… I dunno." She shook her head and grinned. "Maybe you just think I'm idealistic. Once we inherit REVOCS, we're going to try to make something better out of it. If we have full market share, we can crush any competition and still try to keep it… Ugh. I dunno. Everything is so corrupt that I wonder if it'll ever get fixed."

'Something for the future.'

She closed her eyes and laid her head on my shoulder. "Yeah. Something for the future. Anyway, Nonon's mom…died, because of her assistance getting cut, especially so suddenly. Nonon joined a group with some other people planning to assassinate Shido, to send a message."

'A tale of vengeance. She's got a good spirit.'

"Yeah. She didn't have anything to do with the actual assassination, but, you know, politics. The police were looking for any victory. Nonon was set to be sentenced for ten years, and her life would be ruined if she was found guilty. Satsuki showed the case to me - she said it'd be pretty easy to blackmail Nonon, so…

It took a bit of her begging with Ragyo, saying that Nonon was an elite fighter who would represent Honnōji Academy well. She just needed a better role model to guide her."

'And Satsuki was that model citizen?'

Ryuko laughed. "Yeah. You can see how well it worked - but Ragyo bought it. Satsuki and Nonon were inseparable for that entire year."

'… What'd Inumata and the others do? They don't mind you telling me this, right?'

She shook her head. "Nah. They trust me and Satsuki to know who to tell, and they're our best friends. It's been really nice to have something like this - that at any time, one of us can call a meeting or head back to the Elite Four - uh, Five's - house whenever we don't wanna stay home. Ragyo's just as obsessed with Tri-City Raids as we are, so this month, especially, she doesn't get suspicious."

'Right.' I muttered, tracing my fingers across the back of her palm. 'Winning Tri-City Raids is the perfect endorsement of REVOCS uniforms - an elite squadron so loyal is a heavy advantage.'

"Right. It sucks giving REVOCS even more market share than they deserve, but…" She shook her head. "It's the best way to get stronger.

Anyway, Inumata. He was on trial for, uh - remember the hacking of UFJ Bank, a few years ago? We got him the best lawyers we could, to try to get a plea deal. He had to return all the money, of course, and uh… Another round of pleading with Ragyo, and they found someone else to take the fall."

'… Someone innocent?' I answered, slightly flustered.

"I'm... not really sure." She shook her head. "It's… It wasn't our best moment, but you can see how good he is at what he does."

'… Yeah.' I murmured. 'Should I even ask about Gamagoori and Sanageyama?'

She grinned. "Yeah. Satsuki handled Gamagoori by herself. He had a female friend at the time who was getting abused by her girlfriend. I'm sure you can guess, but he's just as protective a guy as you, so… She came to school one day with a black eye - and in response, Gamagoori beat her girlfriend in to a coma. She still hasn't woken up."

'Sounds like him.'

"I thought you'd get a kick out of that." She grinned. "And Sanageyama - Gamagoori recommended him. He's too honorable to ever commit a crime. His family was in real bad poverty before we recruited him - he's got as much a reason to hate the rich as any of us."

She sighed heavily, the weight finally lifted from her shoulders. Her breath gusted against my neck as we embraced.

"… And, a few weeks ago, your lack of Life Fibers convinced Satsuki to recruit you." She grinned. "My big, strong Outcast."

I grinned. She would make me blush if she wasn't careful.

"And so, after Tri-City Raids - the seven of us are gonna kill Ragyo. Satsuki thinks the best time to do it'll be at the Cultural Arts Festival, a week after the raids, since I'll have our new uniforms ready by then. We've got enough connections in the justice system at this point that none of us will see charges for it."

'The perks of the aristocracy.'

She grinned. "Yeah. We'll make sure the rest of you are safe, too. Nothing a few tens of millions of yen here and there can't fix, and no one'll want to say no to the two heirs to REVOCS. Like I said - consequences are for the poor."

'And here I thought you'd leave me out to dry.'

We shared a laugh.

"Guess you better buy me dinner me after and make sure, boyfriend." She grinned as if I could ever decline her. "Still, there's also finding out what really happened to my father…"

Her fingers intertwined with mine again, a love for which no words were needed.

"…but," she muttered with a tinge of bloodlust as she laid herself flatter on me, "It's nothing a blade at Ragyo's throat won't get her to admit."

'Or a gauntlet.'

"Or a gauntlet." She laughed and laid her head against my shoulder. Her entire body relaxed as I pulled her in my arms.

"…Let's just stay like this for a little while. They won't come back until I call them in."

'I was just thinking the same.'

"… And now, you know why I…" She closed her eyes and held me close. "… That's why I really like you always asking me if I'm comfortable. I'll always tell you, of course, but… Even before you knew, you always asked me."

'I - couldn't not.' I murmured. 'I would never want to hurt you.'

"I know that, too." She smiled. "And not just 'cause you just told me. Even on our first date, I could tell. You were constantly checking my eyes, my face, to make sure I was comfortable. I really appreciate that."

She shook her head. "Mmm… I forgot to get the pillow and blanket, though."

'You can always use me as a pillow.'

"Good. 'Cause I'm gonna."

And so we stayed in silence for what felt like hours longer, and warmth, alongside with underlying rage, filled my heart.

That monster hurt Ryuko.

Her death alone won't satisfy me.


	4. Chapter 4 - Seven Figures

The following week proved far less stressful than the last, and I began to feel as a true member of the Elite Five, the seven of us sworn to secrecy in our conspiracy to commit matricide. They spoke more openly on it, their distaste of Ragyo palpable in their words, now, and I sensed there was no hidden information left.

We shared and bonded over a mutual hatred of the aristocracy, the two sisters excluded, and even men and women who had worn Life Fibers their entire lives knew who the true vampires were, the dilapidated husks of barely empathetic and hardly sympathetic simulacrum that roamed the streets and businesses of the luxury districts.

For all our enjoyment of the perks, we enjoyed none of the people.

In our final outing on the last Thursday of the month, only a day before we would embark to the Elite Five's bunker for a month of training, we ate as if it were our last.

Gamagoori and I devoured enough Wagyu to empty an entire slaughterhouse, Ryuko and Satsuki enough chocolate to deforest an entire country, and Inumata and Sanageyama, enough toro to crest on the brink of mercury poisoning. For her own amusement, and seemingly out of nowhere, Nonon had bought a watermelon priced at four hundred thousand yen that tasted like a million. If the aristocrats who had stared at us the entire day were vampires, we might have been pig.

And on the last Friday, Satsuki called what would be our final meeting at Honnōji. She had organized a contest for our last week of class, the entries for which had been finalized earlier that morning, and we were sat as a panel of seven judges.

Whatever student had written the most poetic praise of Satsuki would be rewarded with a uniform she had once worn. I had never understood burusera, but the slew of sweets that had come alongside the letters would drive us in to sugar comas for months.

Fortunately for the men of the school, Ryuko had declined the offer of a second contest centered around herself. It saved me the trouble of tracking the cuckolds down.

"Go ahead, Sanageyama." Satsuki smirked as the samurai pulled a fresh exultation from the box. It was near fit to burst with letters, and at its side was another box filled with desserts. They had delivered enough to fill an elephant.

"Hey, boyfriend." Ryuko whispered to me. "Wanna give your Ryuko some of that?"

'Get your own.' I smirked as I scooped another chocolate in my mouth. She shook her head and laughed, and before I could stop her, she had picked a chocolate out of my box and swallowed it whole.

'Be caref-'

" - ah, this one looks quite nice." Sanageyama murmured, carefully tearing open the envelope. Within, a simple sheet of paper, adorned in flannel patches. " 'Dear Lady Satsuki - Please step on us. Signed, every single member of Lesbian Club.' "

We erupted in to laughter no less ferocious than at the last dozen requests for it.

"...we have a club like that?" Nonon murmured, her lower lip quivering. "Maybe I can switch presidency from Music..."

Satsuki shook her head. "You wouldn't like them, Nonon. They're far too butch and uncouth - you should save yourself for a more feminine, proper woman."

Sanageyama passed the box of letters to Nonon, and her grin was as wide as ever as she pilfered through to the next.

"Oh man, this is gonna be some good shit."

She pulled the next envelope out, and her eyes suddenly widened in horror; a frown crossed her face as sweat drew down her brow -

"- O-Oh hahaha it's nothing!" she shouted, eagerly shoving the box to Inumata. Pink circles the shade of her hair clung to her cheeks as she held the letter tightly to her chest, and with deep breaths she attempted to calm herself. She had not even read a word of it, yet she was fiercely blushing.

"You going to read it?" Ryuko grinned. She was just as eager as the rest of us to engage in another round of ridicule.

With another deep breath, Nonon nodded and opened the envelope, carefully tearing the top as if it were a precious artifact. Sweat matted her hair and mixed in pink streams at her cheeks. Her lower lip quivered with nerves.

"…T-This one, is… Probably pretty good…" she muttered as she avoided eye contact.

"It won't be hard to follow that last one," Gamagoori said, outstretching his arms with a smirk.

"We'll be the judge of that." Sanageyama shook his head. "Go ahead, Nonon. Read it out."

"There's no reason to be embarrassed on their behalf, Nonon. I'm the one who's the subject of these letters, after all," said Satsuki as she prepared for another letter that would stroke her ego just as much as the last.

Seeing this, Nonon nodded again. Her fingers and voice quivered as she read it out loud.

"Dear L-L-Lady Satsuki." Her teeth grit and her jaw clenched as she pushed out the next sentences. "Ever since I first saw you, I can't help but think of you every day, and my dreams have been a constant, wonderful paradise. Whenever I go to sleep I think of your beautiful, stoic face, and whenever I wake up I think of your immense radiance. Your eyebrows frame your face like an angel; your black hair waves about you as if it's a flag marking the most beautiful woman in the world. I would do anything if it meant I could share a single kiss with you, but if you see fit to grant it, I'll settle for an outfit your blessed body has touched."

She nodded and smiled. "Love, No-" - her eyes widened - "Nobody! Nobody! Nobody wrote it!"

The six of us erupted in to laughter as Nonon's cheeks scorched with further embarrassment, though none of us were able to ascertain why the letter had set her flustered so. Her fingers drummed at a rapid pace along the table as if she were attempting to distract herself from the rest of us, and her eyes flirted about like a confused dog.

(Gamagoori) "I'll admit, that's a pretty good one."

(Sanageyama) "Whoever wrote it is a true poet."

"… It's very nice." Satsuki said, closing her eyes. A single tear dripped down her cheek, and it was not from laughter. "It's - quite a refreshing change from the rest."

She sighed and crossed her arms, then shook her head in disappointment. "Unfortunately, if it is anonymous, I have no way of finding who wrote it. They won't be able to claim the reward."

"Y-You don't think it would actually win, do you?" Nonon muttered, tying her fingers in to pretzels.

Satsuki opened her eyes and nodded. "I believe it would. It's simply a shame the writer chose to remain anonymous. If they were a woman, I would have even granted the first request alongside the second."

Nonon's eyes widened. "Oh! In that case, the writer is -"

"- now now, Nonon. There's still much to get through." said Inumata, already scooping out the next letter and preparing for a new reading.

Despair filled Nonon's face. She looked as if she were ready to burst in to tears and to cry out in anguish, though fortunately, the next letter looked far more humorous than the last. It would serve well to lighten her spirits from whatever was troubling her.

"Ah, here. 'To our illustrious student body president. Attached is four thousand words of my story where we have sex constantly, and my number.'"

'Writers love to self-insert,' I quickly surmised as another four pages fell out of the envelope.

With a sigh, Satsuki shook her head, gesturing to Inumata she had no wish to hear the rest. He crumpled it alongside the last and shoved it in to the trash where it belonged.

"We should get going within the hour, regardless. I'll decide the winner after Tri-City Raids." said Satsuki, standing like a white beacon. "We'll walk - a lesser chance of being tracked than by helicopter, so long as we cover our footprints well."

* * *

Within a forest so vast it had taken three hours to walk through it, there laid an underground bunker. Further within this bunker was a single corridor, branching off to several chambers and adjacent halls, and further within one of these halls -

"This shall be your room, Outcast." said Satsuki, gesturing to the final door at her right. We were in the westernmost hall where our lodgings lay, our housing for the next month in preparation for Tri-City Raids.

I nodded, and made to push the door open -

\- her fingers pressed against my chest. Slightly flummoxed, I cocked my head. Her eyes darted to the other end of the corridor to assure we had no eavesdropper.

"… Outcast." she whispered, taking a deep breath as if she were about to confess another family secret. "I apologize for the way I - treated you, that day." Her eyes stared carefully in to my own, her expression as diplomatic as ever.

'…ah.' I muttered, just as pensive. 'It's - Ryuko explained to me, why you would… I understand why you would - want to make sure she was comfortable.'

She closed her eyes. Suppressed emotion choked her tone.

"… Outcast. You do not have to pretend it was acceptable for me to treat you like that." Her eyes opened. "Ryuko was quite angry with me, after. She accused me of infantilizing her - that I was unable to accept she could make her own decisions. That I still imagined her as the twelve-year-old I couldn't save."

'There - wasn't anything you could do. It wasn't either of your faults.'

For the first time, her smile was weak.

"...That's what she reminded me, as well. I'm not certain I'll ever fully believe that until Ragyo is dead."

'We'll do it. All seven of us.'

She nodded. "We shall."

Her expression lightened, and a small smirk crossed her face as she removed her fingers. "Ryuko talks quite a lot about you, and I don't believe it's only for my sake."

'I - hope it's all been positive.'

Her smirk grew wider. For all the difficulty in her apology, she still held the same enjoyment of authority.

"It was, and is. I suppose it's only natural for me to assume the worst in any man she dates, but her description of you - and what I've ascertained of you personally - makes it clear you have no intention of mistreating her."

'I would never. When she told me about Ragyo - I can't even describe how angry I felt. It was a wonder Outcast didn't take over and go back to the mansion for me.'

Satsuki nodded. "She's told me that, as well. I've decided to assign you to train with her in our afternoon sessions for the month, and I expect you not to hold back, there, either. She's a fierce comba-"

"Are you two done yet?" rang Nonon's voice from the dining room a corridor over, as impatient as ever to begin the scheduled lunch.

Satsuki shook her head and smirked. "Always the impatient one. Regardless, Ryuko requested that she be given the room next to your's. I won't say a word about your relationship to the others unless both of you see fit."

'…yeah.' I muttered, a pinprick of guilt entering my heart. We were still as secretive as ever, and I hadn't revealed it to even Gamagoori. 'We'll - her and I will talk about it. There's no reason not to, by now. We're all in this together.'

Satsuki nodded. "Certainly. You pledged unflinching loyalty, after all."

'Always.'

* * *

In the middle of the first night, a knock at my door jolted me awake. Curious at the sudden intrusion, while knowing precisely who it was, I answered out a low 'just a second' and did not open it until ten later.

And she was there. Black bangs with a red streak like a waterfall in her hair - my Ryuko. Her face was flush, and her breathing deep.

She was wearing a set of pajamas so tight I wondered if they were intentional - an orange two-piece with bunny's heads dotting the fabric, and as she pressed her way inside, the completely, utterly, absolutely, totally, fully innocent purity of the pajamas only aroused me further.

'Everything alright?' I murmured. Not wanting to reveal our relationship prematurely, I closed the door behind her, and sat next to her on my bed. Her breathing deepened, and her fingers drew along my chest.

"… Outcast. Boyfriend." she muttered, closing her eyes. "… I think I'm ready."

My mouth too quick for my mind; 'Ready for what?'

The absurdity drew a laugh from her, and my cheeks scorched as I realized a moment later.

'Are - are you sure?' I murmured, my breath as deep as her's. 'We - we don't have to -'

" - I'm sure." She smiled, pressing my chest gently. "I know, boyfriend. We don't have to do anything I don't want to. I want to do this - and I'll tell you if it's uncomfortable, okay?"

'I - of course, R-Ryuko.' I murmured, laying back on my bed. 'Did - you want a particular position?'

Her chest filled. "Just… I want to be on your lap, while you lay back. I want a lot of touching, and I want… I want my first time to be with you. I want to see you."

'Of course, Ryuko.' I flicked the lamp on my nightstand to life. 'Is this good?'

Ryuko nodded, her eyes firmly trained on me. "Y-Yeah. I - might quiver a bit - but I need to do this. It doesn't mean I'm uncomfortable, okay?"

Trusting her well, I nodded. 'Alright. Do - you want me to undress you?'

"I'll do that." she murmured, hooking her fingers underneath her pajama top. "You can get undressed, too."

With slow, deliberate movements, we undressed, and I stifled a gasp as I caught sight of her nude.

For all the fantasies I had of her before, the confirmation was far better. Her pale skin was as close to angelic as I would ever see, her breasts peeking out as she pulled her shirt up. Her hips curved and made way for her trained thighs.

Her radiance was more perfect than in my imagination. Her eyes performed the same inspection on me, and I heard her gasp, saw her red cheeks, and felt her loving smile. A dreamlike haze claimed me, and my movements were slurred, feeling gently her fingers against my thighs.

And I knew she was comfortable. The left thigh joined the sensation of the right, and two more pressed against them as she sat atop me.

"… Are you r-ready?" I heard her murmur, blushing ferociously.

'If you are.'

Her eyes clenched shut. "O-Okay. J-Just need to…" Her breath quickened. "J-Just need to…"

In a swift movement, she threw herself off of me, slamming her body against the bed. "I - I can't do this right now. I - I can't do it."

'I - it's alright, it's alright.' I murmured, making my way to her just as quickly. 'I'm right here, okay? Keep - keep your eyes open. On me.'

She shoved herself against my chest, and her eyes shot open.

They were misty. The nightmare still had not left her. Her jaw clenched, and her teeth grit. Her mind shoved every other emotion out of her thoughts, and her eyes shoved out every other sight but for me.

"I-I'll kill that fucking bitch." grunted Ryuko. "I'll mangle her fucking corpse. I can't wait to see how she'll - fucking look when she's in tiny pieces."

'We'll do it together.'

"Yeah." Her expression hardened. "We will."

* * *

The following morning, Ryuko and I were set for the announcement. We were sat at the dining table for our scheduled breakfast as seven, and though I was beginning to grow sick of pork and rice after only two days of it, my mind was occupied with more pertinent matters.

And Satsuki, astute as ever, had caught it before we had said a word. Her eyes darted between Ryuko and I, catching the trend from a single nod from Ryuko.

"After." Ryuko murmured to me. "Won't take long."

'Yeah.' I whispered back, setting to my own serving, far more mountainous than her own. If mine and Gamagoori's were adult, Sanageyama and Inumata's were teenager, Satsuki and Ryuko's were infant, than Nonon's was fetus. I silently wondered how little of a serving could still be considered a meal.

Yet in the second my eyes darted to Nonon's, a wide grin grew across her face. She glanced between Ryuko and I, and the unmistakable aura of narcissism shone in her expression.

"I heard something real cool last night." said Nonon, swaying her head as she ate. "Someone got up in the middle of the night."

'I - what?' I said, suddenly flustered, pink threatening to enter my cheeks.

"A midnight run." said Gamagoori. "Bathroom or otherwise. Don't mention it while we're eating."

Nonon grinned. "No, I wouldn't mention some weak shit like that. It was around midnight, and I didn't hear their door close again until waaaay later. Weird, right? Like they were in someone else's room for most of the night."

"What a gossip." muttered Inumata. "If this is what passes for conversation, we'll be bored to death by the end of the month."

A fire gleamed in Nonon's eyes, akin to her performance as Nui. "It's real juicy shit, though, 'cause I checked to see who it was. You'll never guess, but -"

'- Ryuko and I are dating.'

The table's eyes widened.

Nonon frowned, and her cheeks dimpled with disappointment. "Aww, why did you have to ruin it? I had a big story planned about it, you know."

"As if." Ryuko grinned, now placing her hands upon mine openly. Slightly flustered by the sudden display of public affection, I leaned back in my chair and attempted to avert eye contact, a light smile across my face that served as further confirmation.

"…ah." Inumata muttered, catching the trend of the conversation. "I presume this was meant to be secret, then."

I nodded. 'We didn't want to reveal it until I had passed Ragyo's inspection - just in case.'

"And she was already looking at you like a hawk." Gamagoori nodded, a jest in his voice with underlying concern. "Hard not to stand out at this size."

(Inumata) "I, ah - shall update our battle formations, then. I presume you two would like to raid the same academy."

(Ryuko) "It'll be a pretty good date."

'Where did you have me before?'

(Gamagoori) "With me in Kyoto, leviathan." He grinned and shook his head. "Guess you just separated the two sisters."

(Satsuki) "I believe it shall be better, regardless. Kyoto's academy has the least amount of students - with no club members for Ryuko and Outcast, it would be best, alongside spreading the two Kamuis. Gamagoori - you shall swap with Ryuko, and Ryuko will raid Kyoto alongside…" She gestured to Ryuko vaguely, as if she were asking her to name me.

"Outcast. My big, strong Outcast." Ryuko grinned.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Satsuki's gaze lighten. It was clear she was beginning to become accustomed to the relation, no matter how it might have been announced.

There would never again be a sword over my head.

* * *

The following days passed in a flurry of enormous breakfasts in the morning, harsh training in the afternoon, and time with Ryuko in the evening. Though we still had not had sex, the Pavlovian response I had developed from her pajamas left me grateful I had no desire to go rabbit hunting, for what a stiff mess it would become.

It was almost disappinting she had to wear her Kamui for training.

"Again!" shouted Satsuki, her voice cracking like a whip.

Ryuko and I were set to duel again today, and the rest were watching us like hawks, sat along the walls of the steel enclosure.

Ryuko and I circled again. Predatory instincts wiped romanticism for stoic grit, and the sharp eyes of her Kamui - Ranketsu - stared in to my own, drilling me with a fire just as fervent.

"Life Fiber - Synchronization - Ranketsu!"

Before my eyes she underwent a wild transformation. Her clothes disappeared for a moment, her body billowed within flashes of black streaks that wrapped around her body - then too quickly for the sight to follow she stood before me again, her clothing drastically different and her demeanor just as angered. At her shoulders raised Ranketsu's eyes from thin jade stalks, her body shielded by thick plates of black and blue armor. Spikes grew like thorns from black pauldrons.

Between her fingers were curved dual blades, jagged edges I knew well could negotiate through Outcast's armor.

Too quickly for the sight to follow, she shot after me - I rushed at her much the same, and in the center of the arena clashed blades and gauntlets, obsidian and jade sparks that lit grit faces. With pantherlike quickness she slipped free from the clash and circled around me, and before she could strike again, I shot my grip out; my grasp centered at her neck, and with the full strength of the leviathan I threw her to the opposite wall. Her body smacked against the steel for a moment, and she shot up again as I rushed over to her, the clash beginning anew against the wall.

The battle rush claimed us as I sought to crater single haymakers through to her chest, to shatter the eyes of her Kamui incessantly weaving, and the flurry of strikes she carved against my chest were growing more aggressive by the moment. Jagged edges pierced deep crimson through the top layers of Outcast's armor, carving red valleys, and the size of the armor forced me to take every strike head-on. She knew my sluggish and poor range well, darting in and out of my reach as if she were a snake against a boar, her blades pinpricking and biting crimson wounds.

And in spite of the handicap of my first hold and the advantage of my durability, she was quickly gaining the advantage. A score of carved obsidian chips lay at her feet, and what strikes I could land left far shallower cracks than the ones her blades cut. She dragged me along on a thick line around the arena, and every laceration she carved against my chest was succeeded by a hasty retreat.

A dozen slits were streaming blood down my chest and thighs, and I still stomped as an obsidian and crimson nightmare - yet as it had with Satsuki, it was clear I could not win through brute strength alone.

I rushed at her from across the arena again, and before she could move -

\- I threw my weight in to a single tackle; the floodgates were ajar for her veins and tore, and a horrific screech erupted from her as we hit the ground. Her blades impaled like twin zippers against my back as we thrashed and rolled, the grasp my right arm kept around her torso so crushing it would have snapped her spine without a Kamui, and my left gauntlet cracked deeper fractures against Ranketsu with every strike.

In a second moment of feigned stupidity, I released her from my grasp; she broke free and made to dodge right as she stood, and my gauntlet was already there to grip her by her hair.

I readied to smash her against the wall -

\- and too quickly for the sight to follow, the spikes shot free from her pauldrons; instantly they burrowed and drilled in to my wrists, crimson holes that mixed with obsidian chips. Searing pain forced me to release my grasp, yet the nails pierced deeper through my armor, carrying the last of their sudden momentum as they drilled a clear path through the top layer.

It was a certainty she would not stop there. Ryuko was fighting just as ruthlessly as I, and as she spun back to face me, a berserk rage and a bloodied haze claimed her face.

And she was among me with a rush and a gigantic bound. Her blades impaled my wrists as if carving a path for the projectiles' journey, and before I could react -

\- her blades were at my throat and threatening to slit it open.

Across her face was bloodlust mixed with pleasure at how quickly the situation had turned, and at my back, I felt Satsuki's eyes implicitly asking if I would surrender.

Yet I, too, had an ability I had never mentioned to Ryuko. Too quickly for the sight to follow, I swept my left gauntlet back, and before she could react -

\- ghastly hands ripped her spikes from my armor and nailed her wrists to the walls - a red geyser painted my face.

With instincts too quick for her mind, she thrashed about wildly against the sudden counter, and it only drove her spikes tearing further and further through her Kamui's sleeves. Her grip unclenched around her blades and dropped them to the ground, and in decisive stomps, I shattered her weapons to scrap metal.

"W-What?!" she shouted as if she were aghast at the matched ruthlessness. The spikes grew from her pauldrons again, their next target sure to be my neck -

"Draw! Remove your weapons!"

The drill sergeant was among us again.

At my back, I heard Nonon's flute begin a familiar melody, a soothing song that dulled our pain and began to close our wounds. With a nod, and far more carefully, I pulled gently out the spikes still affixing Ryuko's crucifixion, and Outcast melted to air once more.

It took us a minute to catch our breath. For all the bard's lovely accompaniments, she hadn't yet figured a way to restore stamina. It might have been a higher level spell.

"... Jeez." murmured Ryuko with a hint of singed pride, shaking her head and tapping her healing wounds. "I'm gonna have to get new blades now, you know." She grinned.

'... I might have overdone it, admittedly.' I muttered, the battle haze clearing from my eyes. 'Will you be alright for Tri-City Raids?'

As we made our way back to the others, she nodded. "Yeah. Don't worry - that's exactly what you should do with a real opponent. You definitely weren't holding back with me."

'Neither were you,' I grinned, blood still running down my wrists. Without the gift of the vampiric syringes, the crimson was clearing from my body far slower than Ryuko's. 'You never told me those spikes weren't just for show.'

We shared a laugh, and sat against the wall next to Satsuki and Gamagoori. Our training done for the day, Ryuko laid her head against my chest.

"Haha, jeez… And you never told me you had telekinesis."

'It's the only part of me that could ever be subtle. Satsuki ordered me to keep it a secret from you - said it would be better to not know what it was until you were in the heat of battle.'

"And now you know why I didn't tell you about Ranketsu." chimed Ryuko. "That's its absorption ability - it can use Life Fibers to grow those spikes and shoot them out, but I can't aim them once they're out." She winked, and I finished the rest of the idea for her.

'But I can.'

"Yeah. Looks like we're a perfect match in more ways than one, huh?"

'Yeah.' I nodded and kissed her forehead. Her smile grew to fill her face. 'We are.'

"Mmm… I still need to get a new set of blades, now, though." Her eyes lit with realization. "… Hey. Your armor doesn't - the chips don't go away when you're not using it, right?"

'What do you mean?'

"I've got an idea."

* * *

The following day, the first Thursday, was far less exciting. Sanageyama had accidentally broken Inumata's left arm, Ryuko's blades had been shattered, and sensing that it was best not to tempt fate, Satsuki had allowed a week's rest before resuming training again.

Fortunately, the broken items, left arm and blades, provided the perfect opportunity for Inumata to conduct further research on me.

I was sprawled on a metal bedframe in a room near the end of the bunker, and a variety of computerized screens at the far wall were reading off measurements too numerous to count or care.

At a set of monitors to my right, sat Inumata, his face shadowed by the same dim lights of the screens, shrouded like a blue-haired nightmare. He sat close enough to me that he had been rapidly swapping between incessant prodding and incessant typing for hours, and his chair looked far more comfortable than my own accommodations.

"…an incredible, incredible, incredible weight of twenty thousand, eight hundred, ninety four, point five six."

He shook his head as if he could hardly believe it himself.

"It's no wonder you're such a heavy eater. The suit of armor must give you incredible strength to even be able to move about while it's out. There's likely some measure of reinforcement going on within your, ah, flesh body, to assure certain important matters like your skeletal system and organs not exploding in a red mist."

Without waiting for a response, he turned. His right fingers began a wild dance across a keyboard at his lap, and his eyes lit with scientific curiosity. It was as if he were the first in the world to examine an exotic animal, and he was equipped with an ego as towering as mine in his eagerness to solve the riddle first.

Because he was.

He had been taking samples of the obsidian for nearly three hours. Though my stomach was beginning to grumble with hunger pangs, I knew he would not allow me to leave his sight until the examination was finished.

'Will Sanageyama be able to forge with the material, then?' I muttered, tracing my left gauntlet across my thighs as if I were soothing a beloved family pet.

Because I was. I -

"Outcast," he erupted suddenly, his fingers atwitter with anticipation. "Think - ah - about Ryuko."

'I - what?' I said, slightly flustered.

His face was still turned away from me, and I could not tell if it were a jest or not.

Yet I knew that if I did not obey his every command, he would never let up with it. I turned my thoughts to Ryuko.

"Yes!" he exulted - then just as quickly his cheeks reddened with embarrassment, and now the both of us were flustered by the sudden eruption. With a cough I thought were meant to soothe me, he swept his vision away from the monitors, his face still shrouded in deep blue mixed in pockmarks of red and yellow light.

His eyes belied a recent discovery. His glasses looked as if they were ready to pop off, and hung precariously from the tip of his nose. His left arm was hung in a sling. A mad scientist in many senses of the word.

"A-Ah. My apologies, Outcast." he murmured, right hand still at the keys. "Ah - sheathe your suit of armor for the moment."

I sheathed my suit of armor for the moment.

His eyes lit anew. With a clack of a single key he turned to me again, and a wide grin was across his visage.

"Ah - and now, think of Ryuko."

'Is there, ah…' I muttered, not entirely certain of his intentions. '…a particular mood you want for these thoughts?'

He cocked his head and made to speak, and just as quickly pink seared his cheeks. So engrossed was he in his work, he hadn't stopped to ponder what other examination he might have been able to perform if I were fantasizing of Ryuko. Quickly, he shook his head, lightly embarrassed and lightly murmuring.

"…a-ah. Simply - imagine - ah, her in your arms. I - am simply testing your imagination."

'Is that all it is? If you need to examine my lower half -'

"No! No - T-That will be absolutely fine."

I couldn't help but stifle a laugh, and sensing this, his lips turned in a small smirk as well. The exhaustion of the past hours had left us clinging to any humor we could find.

"…my apologies. I - shall attempt to explain this in a layman - lay-leviathan's terms. I have reason to believe that Outcast is formed from your brain."

'My brain?'

"Correct. More accurately, that it forms from your perception. There's at least ten billion more neurons in your cerebral cortex than are present in an average human, and it appears that each is set upon keeping that leviathan of a suit of armor working."

'That doesn't make any sense.'

"I told you it was the lay-leviathan's explanation," he said, ruefully shaking his head. "Regardless, I've found two things that are…quite unusual."

'More unusual than its existence?'

With a nod, he closed his eyes, and his tone grew far more serious.

"… The first - it almost appears as if you were injected with it. The extraneous neurons are at least two years younger than the rest of your cells - they stick out quite blatantly."

'I - what do you mean?' I made to sit straight.

His eyes opened, and for the first time, they were as perplexed as my own. The wild dance at the keyboard had stopped.

"… Odd. Your - parents found you at age two, correct?"

'Right. I - after my biological parents, I assume, dropped me off.'

"Or something worse." he muttered, shaking his head. "Injected, given such an ability - and mysteriously abandoned. Why would one go through such painstaking work and then get rid of it?"

'I…'

I laid back again, unsheathing Outcast as if protection from the revelation. A multitude of theories lit in my mind, and as my previous attempt had gone, I knew what I could conjure from my mind would not solve it any quicker than simple patience would.

'… And the second?'

Sensing the tension in my voice, he held his hand out as if to comfort me, with a tone of false confidence. "The second - there are neurons of this sort embedded in the right half of your amygdala as well, though to examine these more directly, I would require samples."

'You would have to take the cells out?'

"… Right." he murmured, already knowing I would never allow it. "I - they do not appear to be active, however, when you are thinking of Ryuko, nor when the armor is out. I'm not certain what their purpose is."

'… I suppose I should try to find my biological parents after all. Once we're finished with Ragyo. Let's continue the rest of the examination.'

Inumata smirked. "Of course. As for why I've asked you to think of Ryuko, I'm simply testing your powers of perception and imagination. It'll allow me to ascertain whether the neurons are marked irrevocably with your genetics, or whether they are simply, ah…" he muttered, wringing his hands in pretzels.

He was attempting to find the simplest explanation for the leviathan before him, and ever the oaf and eager to leave, I was silently grateful for it.

"…ah, it's irrelevant." He shook his head. "You look quite ready to leave, regardless. And yes - Ryuko's plan should work quite well. The durability will carry over."

'How long did it take you to figure that out?' I grinned.

"Ah, I was certain it would work within five minutes of you walking in. But I had to keep the leviathan captive, somehow." he said, and we shared a laugh. He closed his eyes, a smirk as he shook his head and index finger.

"One last test, and that should be all the data I need. As I said - simply - put the armor on again, and think of holding Ryuko. It can be in any situation you like. I simply need to see how certain areas of your brain react while imagining something that, I assume, is quite familiar to you."

I nodded and laid my head back, closing my eyes. A dozen images of Ryuko passed by in my mind, and as if I were standing in a gallery, I felt the array of images begin to circle in a wild flurry. At any moment, I could pluck a single scene forth, the sight of her smiling face ambrosia for my senses. If I had a million years, I might have spent each one there, in the museum of scenes nearly as beautiful as the woman herself.

Plucking one from the recesses of my mind, I shut out the incessant clack of keys in the background. In the scene I had chosen, Ryuko was laying on me in our bed. My fingers were tracing along the red streak of her hair that was as soft in my imagination as it was in reality, and her pants were warming my neck. Carefully, her fingers tapped my chest.

"… Hey, boyfriend." she whispered. "Guess what I'm wearing?"

My eyes turned, and I realized with a start she was wearing the completely, utterly, absolutely, totally, fully innocent pair of pajamas - her hips rocked against the secondary leviathan - before I could stop her, her tongue was in my mouth -

\- my eyes shot open, and the analyst's eyes were wide with the same realization.

It was buried beneath the obsidian, after all.

We didn't make eye contact for the rest of that Thursday.

* * *

Within a bunker dug so deep underground and so far from luxury district limits that none would ever ascertain the location, there laid a room. Further within this room, stood a behemoth and leviathan, and further within this -

"I always hate doing these." Gamagoori muttered as he lowered the barbell again. We had put off our weight training until the rest of the house had fallen asleep that night, and while my mind was flirting with thoughts of a visit to Ryuko, it could always wait until after.

'Quieter than you're used to?' I muttered as we swapped positions, Outcast-augmented strength ready to grip and rip. The bar was loaded so heavily it might snap at any moment.

I was silently hoping for it. Deadlifts were a hellish invention. As I looked to Gamagoori with exhaustion clinging to our faces and sweat to our cheeks, I knew he was thinking the same as well, and he did not even have the comfort of a beautiful woman waiting for him after. He was always too honorable for such acts.

With a sigh, a clench of my jaw, I ripped the two thousand that felt like two dozen off the floor again. Sweat stroked my limbs and stars seared in my vision. Agony coated my spine, my entire body braced so tightly it might explode - and with a stifled grunt of exertion so as to not wake the rest - I began to lower the bar as gently as I could manage, bulging muscularity like taut cords around my wrists. My thighs quivered ferociously underneath tremendous effort, my gauntlets offering little in the way of comfort as the obsidian dug deeply against my flesh underneath. Knurling that felt like rosebushes scored against my grip, and with stifled breath escaping through a clenched orifice, I set it back upon the floor again.

"One." muttered Gamagoori.

"Just nineteen more."

The behemoth had finally met a leviathan as crazy as he.

* * *

The factory districts were separated from the residential by massive walls. Below the smokestacks of black smog and the steady drain of pollution in to the adjacent ocean, an assembly line toiled over the reddened strands of fabric. There were men, set to watch over their every step, and every move, to assure they would not waste a single strand of the wondrous materials. In synchronization, they were weaving uniforms.

For miles, and miles long, this robotic display was occurring, each set of a different shade, a different quality, and a different price to be set. The precious cargo was to be loaded at the utmost haste, and for all the supervisors' lack of physical weapons, their voices would certainly crack like one. If a man were exhausted or did not meet his quota, it would be a trivial task to doom him to poverty and find another better suited.

At the end of one of the factory lines stood a man, set at the process much like the others. In practiced movements, he glanced over his shoulder to his supervisor behind. He knew he could trust the man because of the organizational tie they shared, and the common goal to which they were pledged.

With a single, precarious prick of his finger with a needle, a green drop mixed with deeper crimson, and they pooled on the Fiber he was feeding in to the sewing machine before him.

* * *

We had finally reached the weekend of our first week of training, and as was tradition for the past Tri-City Raids, Sanageyama had requested to celebrate with a movie night.

'You're still hungry?' I muttered as Ryuko scooped her fingers in to my popcorn. She had already devoured through her own bucket, and if I did not stop her, it was a certainty my own mountainous serving would disappear down her gullet much the same.

Yet no matter how ferociously she might have fought earlier, the battle before me was one I would never concede. In death ground, I placed my hands over her own, carefully staring in to her widening eyes.

"Please?" Ryuko said with a mock whimper, and her puppy-like eyes filled her entire face. "Give your Ryuko some popcorn?"

'You know I need the calories more than ever.' I muttered and shook my head, silently grateful the others, sans Sanageyama, were sat on the couch without a care in the world for the two in the recliner next to them.

Ryuko's eyes drooped. Her right hand rubbed her stomach. Her left hand tapped and pointed to her mouth, and her gaze filled with despair -

'- okay okay just take it just take it I can't look at you so sad like that.'

I passed the mountainous bucket of popcorn to her and she was back to her former self, clearing the guilt from my heart as rapidly as her fraudulent expression. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Satsuki stifling her laughter at seeing the leviathan so tamed.

"Thanks, boyfriend." Ryuko grinned and winked, scooping a gargantuan serving in her mouth -

\- and through the double doors leading in to the entertainment center erupted a familiar nationalist, his face as haggard as if he had just gone off to war, a single DVD case gripped between callused fingers.

The man was stuck in the past in more ways than one.

"What took you so long?" said Gamagoori, suppressing a yawn. "Been waiting an hour for you."

"It - took longer than I was expecting." Sanageyama muttered, as he crouched over a video player that hadn't been used since last year. His expression was pensive and underlined careful preparation. "...Japan has a long, beautiful cinematic history. It was a monumental task to narrow it down to one movie, but before we embark on Tri-City Raids, we must -"

(Nonon) "You're making us watch 'The Hidden Fortress' again this year, aren't you?"

(Sanageyama) "It's called 'Kakushi toride no san akunin'! Use the proper name!"

The room erupted in to groans, myself excluded. Sighing and shaking her head Ryuko sat back against me, a quarter of the serving already gone between the vacuum of her lips.

(Ryuko) "… At least I've got all this popcorn."

* * *

On the second Thursday, I came to Ryuko's door for another session of practice, as we had done for every evening at her request.

We laid together on her bed, the door closed and locked, and undressed each other. She laid at my side, the blanket discarded at the bottom of the bed, and her eyes stared carefully at my body. The sight of her was still just as radiant as the first.

Yet as it always had, humor would save us.

"… Jeez. Wonder if I'll be able to even take all of that." she grinned, prodding the secondary leviathan. "Like a soda can."

'You flatter me.' I murmured, placing a single hand on her breasts. 'I still can't believe how soft you feel, you know.'

"Mmm… Do I?" She smiled. "It's not gonna come any quicker if you flatter me, too, you know."

'I could never tell a lie. You're an angel, Ryuko.'

Pink circles filled her cheeks.

'And an embarrassed one, now.'

"S-Shut up." she laughed. "Your hand feels nice, though. You can add a second one."

A second hand for a second breast. Her breath quickened, her eyes wide open.

'Everything alright?'

A deep breath and a nod.

"Y-Yeah. I just…" Her smile grew to fill her face. "… It's really nice. I - never realized how nice it would be, coming from someone that I lo-"

\- her cheeks scorched, and mine a second later. My stomach and chest clenched alongside her own, and as if to comfort her, a breath rushed out of me.

'Me - me too.'

Her eyes grew misty, and if I had a million years, I would have spent each staring in to them.

And just as quickly, she threw herself on to me, shoving me to her, showering kisses on me; flustered, I repeated the same, my body matching the rest of her movements and arousal as I held her close. Her thighs pressed deeper against me than they ever had before, and her nails dug against my back. For all the pain she might have inflicted, I could barely feel it over the heat of her passion.

'If - you're not careful, it's going to slip in, you know -' I murmured in the pause, returning her affection when there was a second to breathe.

She couldn't help but laugh, rolling her eyes as she separated. "I'm trying to tell you I love you, and that's what you're worried about?"

'And the scratches on my back.' I laughed, feeling the thin cuts.

"Mmm… Don't like it rough?" She winked.

'I didn't say that. Just need some warning.'

"Mmm… We'll see."

Her fingers traced along my genitals, setting the beast twitching.

"… Jeez. I don't even have to ask whether you like it."

'It could never be subtle.'

"And if I do this?"

She set one hand around the base, curling her fingers around it. As if to answer her, a thin stream dripped from the tip.

"Mmm… Guess that's good." She nodded and laughed. "… Hey. You can - touch me there too, you know."

'Of - of course.' I murmured, the blood rushing out of my brain. From her breasts, I drew my grip down, as soft as ever as I traced her chest, stomach, and down to the sweet sight between her thighs.

I could tell it was wet before I even touched it. A single finger rubbed along it, and her lips passed a low moan, tightening her grip around my own.

'Little - little softer.' I murmured.

Her grip unclenched. Her second hand joined the other, keeping a steady massage at the top and tip.

"Mmm… Little faster."

My pace grew, and her breath quickened.

"M-Mmm… O-One inside…"

A single finger entered, her inner walls clenching around it as they parted. Beads of sweat glistened on her brow.

"M-Mmm… Two…"

A second added, her eyes wide open, staring in to mine. I knew she was attempting to overwrite the nightmare with me.

"G-Good…" she grinned from a face so flush it was a wonder she could say anything. "Really nice… Does this feel good for you?"

'Definitely. Is it good for you?'

She laid herself in the crook of my arm, kissing gently my neck. "Mmm… It feels really good, yeah. I want a better position, though."

Her legs hooked over mine, setting herself against my crotch, her ass coating it in its sweat-soaked touch. Her hands were drawn behind her back, her pace far more awkward with the sudden change.

"… T-This is really nice."

'It is.'

Her thighs pressed against me, and a wide smile went underneath her eyes as she sat herself up, holding closer to it than she ever had before.

"… I want to do this. I'm - really ready, this time."

My fingers retreated, returning to a gentle grip at her thighs. Her cheeks were a red beacon in the dark, and even through occupied senses I knew my own face held the same heat.

'Whenever you are.'

Her fingers curled around the tip, dragging it to prepare it for entry, wet drops from the glans where she had touched it prior.

And she slowly, deliberately slid the tip inside of her.

Her hands threw to her mouth as she moaned, her eyes the same loving gaze, her entire body quivering as the rest entered her. She threw herself to me like she had before, the heat of our passion rushing out any other thought in our minds, showering kisses on each other's neck and lips, our pleasure still stifled through each other's bodies. Her inner walls clenched around me, invited me, parted for me, were wet with me.

"T-This feels really g-good…" panted Ryuko, her nails at my back again, her grip tight as if she was afraid she would lose me at any moment.

'So - so do you.'

She left a series of kisses down my neck, breathing hot air on my cheeks as our lips met again,and her moans ran in my ears. Sweat drew down our faces, and she laughed as she wiped mine off my brow, repeating the same as I with her.

"You - definitely look like you're enjoying it." she grinned from that same flush face, mirroring the happiness on my own. Her hips rocked against me and wet my thighs with the pace of my affection.

'Only - if you are.' I murmured, as protective as ever.

A moan cut her laugh short. "Definitely." Her hands moved to clutch my shoulders, lightly pinning me as she assured her position. "Looks - a-aha - like I can take it all, huh?"

'Apparently.' I muttered, far worse for wear than she.

"Mmm… Come on - don't be nervous. I want to feel more of you." she whispered, kissing along my neck as her fingers curled around my wrists, dragging me to her hips.

Her cheeks dimpled, and her breasts quivered as our mouths met again. Her lips parted to invite me further, and the sensation above was as wet as the one underneath, the grip her inner walls took with me far more pleasurable than the one earlier.

"I - I think I'm going to -"

' - me - me too -' I panted out, until -

\- every last drop of love I had filled her, her body twitching, her orgasm wracking her body as her eyes filled with tears for happiness. We kissed and met, again, and again, and again, her breath gusting, her tears wetting my cheeks. A light twitch went through her legs, still in the throes of pleasure.

And just as quickly, it went limp and slid out of her. She was laid on top of me as a panting, sweating mess, her face warm, and I was the same.

It took us a minute to catch our breath. I felt her sobs vibrate my shoulder, and as I pulled her back, I realized a moment later my own.

The nightmare had left her.

She gave me the happiest smile I had ever seen, and I gave her one of my own.

"… That was really nice." She wiped the tears from her eyes. "I kept… I just kept thinking of you - of how natural it feels to spend time with you. I thought about every day we've spent together, every night we've slept together in this bed."

She laid her head on my chest, and her smile grew to fill her face.

"… I never realized how nice it would be, coming from someone that I… I love you."

'I love you too.'

She was my Ryuko, and she was there.

* * *

Sanageyama had delayed the forging of the new blades until the second Friday out of four, the man far more dishonorable in procrastination than he was in spirit. I was laid across a familiar metal frame, Ryuko at my side as if I were about to give birth, and the surgeon with his katana at the ready.

I somehow doubted he had a license to practice.

"Where shall I make the incision, leviathan?" he muttered. "The material shall forge a mighty blade, the likes of which has never been seen before."

"Uh - two blades." Ryuko murmured as if she were afraid I would regret my decision. "Where do you want to cut?"

"The thigh would be the least painful," he said as he raised his blade. "Prepare yourself, and -"

"- wait! Wait, not there, not there!" said Ryuko, flailing her arms in an even more fervent plea than she had with Satsuki.

'Not - not there. It - might hurt my…'

I shook my head and declined to mention the wonderful discovery Inumata, I, and Ryuko were aware of.

'… Left arm. Near the biceps.' I murmured, extending a target far more palatable and less sticky to the samurai. So honorable was he, he hadn't caught the reference. The man was as caught up in his work as Inumata had been.

"Prepare yourself, kaiju." smirked Sanageyama, his blade threatening my armored left arm. "Are you ready?"

'Like ripping a bandage off.' I muttered as my teeth clenched beneath the bull's skull. I could never resist putting on a durable act for Ryuko.

"San!"

"You're seriously going to count down?" said Ryuko, shaking her head as she cleared the way for the ensuing blood.

"Ni!"

\- and in the next instant, his katana pierced the top layer of Outcast's armor, like a sword in a stubborn stone as he pulled it through and carved a single blade. Jagged and thin edges it might have bore, so searing was the pain across my body that I had no desire to protest.

'You - didn't count to ichi, you know -' I panted as he dipped the tip of the katana in my blood. His fingers swiftly yanked the masterpiece from the hole in my armor where it laid, and before I could react he had carved a second just above it.

"And now," he said as he exulted the meeting of the two, "to forge a mighty hilt for it. It will be a set like none other. It shall combine the durability of volcanic rock with the fiery strength of a leviathan, in the palms of your hands."

"... Uh." Ryuko wiped the blood off my arms with a white cloth. "… Isn't any other type of hilt you could use for it vulnerable to just breaking again?"

"I - what?" he said, suddenly flustered. His eyes widened in realization. "… Oh. That - is a fair point. It would be best to create a set of hilts using the same obsidian! Prepare yourself, leviathan - like a mighty monster to be carved, to forge a new set of blades for Lady Ryuko!"

'A-Anything for my Ryuko.' I grunted out as I prepared for another round of it.

* * *

The third Monday was as serious as ever. With only two weeks until the Tri-City Raids, the date for Ragyo's assassination was fast approaching, and the seven of us met to discuss the matter in detail. A quiver of anxiety coated every action in that circle, Satsuki as a stoic guide as she took the lead in the proceedings. The past months had established her as a true north star for the group.

"The Tri-City Raids - November 5th. We shall leave this bunker at 10:00 P.M. a day prior - and no earlier or later - and return to our housing in the luxury district. At 8:00 A.M., Monday, we will depart for Honnōji Academy, and arrive within fifteen minutes. The club presidents have already prepared much the same."

"They know you'd beat the shit out of them if they didn't."

"Precisely. They still believe we're loyal to REVOCS, though their loyalty to me might prove useful if we're forced in to an extended conflict.

Once we arrive at Honnōji, we'll board the helicopter and set out for our assigned drops. Inumata will relay the information the club presidents have ascertained for each of the three academies."

"Fortunately." muttered Inumata, near fit to yawn. "That Sunday will be the first time I get eight hours of sleep in a month."

"Using the battle data obtained from our final Tri-City Raid, Ryuko will set to upgrading each of your uniforms. What progress have you made on the leviathan, Inumata?"

"I'll require the rest of the month off, for it, unfortunately - but I believe I'm on the brink of a useful upgrade for the man."

'Do you need any more samples?'

He shook his head, now barely containing his excitement. "No, no. The data I gathered should be well enough. You'll wear a similar device on your fraudulent uniform as the others - it should still track your strength, vital signs, the likes."

"No cameras, right?" murmured Ryuko.

Not catching the reference, Inumata nodded. "Nothing so primitive. It'll simply allow me to see where improvements might be made - I shall translate the data in to something readable, and you may modify as you see fit."

"A whole week of sewing…" said Ryuko, shaking her head with a laugh.

"I shall call a meeting that Friday - the four of you shall receive your final set of Goku Uniforms, and for Outcast, whatever Inumata has managed to create that will work with your ability."

'I hope it's not a pill.'

"Don't give me any ideas."

Satsuki smirked. "On Monday, November 12th, the seven of us will attend the Cultural Arts Festival alongside Ragyo. She is set to make a speech at 5:30 P.M., and we will ensure she never speaks again." Her hands smacked the table. "Inumata- bring up the blueprints for Shizouka Stadium."

His hands drew a wild dance over the table, and as if he were a puppeteer, a blue cloud formed underneath. It billowed and twisted like a serpent, then reconstituted quickly to a hologram of the arena.

The stadium, a wide white oval with towering bleachers, seated over fifty thousand, a captive audience to Ragyo's every word. With another flicker of Inumata's fingers, the view swept to the chambers below, and the back entrance through which Ragyo and our seven would arrive. The hall was as wide as a dozen leviathans and as a long as a hundred, encircling like a snake around the inner perimeter of the arena. Doors at regular intervals led to a maze of exits and entrances, to which several chambers opened, whether for business or pleasure.

"This shall be the area we enter in to, first, alongside Ragyo. The board of directors will be in attendance as spectators, and I wouldn't expect to encounter resistance outside of Nui and Rei if we were to attack her here."

"And if she draws us out?" muttered Gamagoori, knowing the plan well, but restating it for my benefit.

"It's a much wider area, a much better clearing - but we'll have to contend with doing it in the public eye." answered Ryuko.

'It'll have the best ratings yet.'

Satsuki shook her head. "The publicity of the matter will be no issue. The collective attention span only lasts as long as a single news cycle, and in our success, none will dare stand against our seven. They'll blink and forget it's ever occurred, and Ryuko and I will stand crowned as REVOCS' presidents."

"And I thought I'd get to crack some pig skulls." murmured Nonon ruefully. "You never let me have any fun."

"Save it for Tri-City Raids." said Gamagoori, shaking his head with a laugh. "At least the students there signed up for it."

"So did they." muttered Nonon, clearly mulling it over. "Fascists."

"We're presidents, not world-conquerors." said Ryuko with a grin. For a moment, I wondered how she might look with a crown on her head. "Just gotta kill Ragyo, and whoever comes after us for it. Bet it'll be Rei and Nui, but if the board of directors catches wind of Ragyo, I'm sure they'll come after us if she survives."

'And if she doesn't?'

"I doubt they'll cause a stir. For all their decorum, the rats will accept their fate once their favorite ship has sunk." said Satsuki, her eyebrows dipping. "And the second plan, Inumata."

He nodded and wove another image of a chamber deeper within, only the length of six men across at each end. Ivory couches and gold-trimmed mirrors ran along the walls, and it was a cramped enclosure compared to the last.

"One of the rooms reserved for our seven. Lady Satsuki shall give the order for when to strike, if she sees the best opportunity, here."

'Tight spacing. Is there a reason we would attack from here?'

"Me." said Nonon, shrugging her shoulders. "My shit's all ranged. If you or Gamagoori squeeze in that door and just act like a big ol brick - uh, obsidian - wall - then I can keep playing my music with no worries."

"Inumata would be better suited for it." muttered Sanageyama. "Those illusions will clog the drainpipe like a pineapple in a pear."

"As poetic as ever." said Gamagoori.

"I agree, Sanageyama. Fortunately, given the new recruit - Gamagoori will block one end of Ragyo's retreat, and the leviathan the other. Inumata will protect Nonon - Sanageyama to Rei, myself to Nui, and Ryuko to Ragyo."

'Who do you want me using the telekinesis on? I can see about disarming someone.'

"Nui." said Ryuko. "She's got a weird set of weapons - shaped like scissors. She'll have a weak grip on both of them."

A wave of familiarity struck Ryuko and I.

'… Right.' I murmured.

"And," said Inumata, drawing a red line through to one of the numerous exits, "our escape, either after the murder, or if we are forced to flee. If we are separated, we shall all meet back at the bunker. It offers a chokepoint."

(Satsuki) "And the secondary?"

Inumata drew a yellow line through another.

"And tertiary." he muttered as he drew a final green. "Quaternary, of course, is smash through the walls and hope for the best."

'Much easier to remember.'

"Inumata shall give you a copy of it to memorize. There are several other plans outlined, and I'll expect you to know each one by heart when I shout the name of each. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask Ryuko or I." said Satsuki. "This is the fruition of our four years, together, as a steadily growing squadron."

"You're still just as dramatic." grinned the dramatic samurai.

"… Four years." muttered Ryuko. "Four years."

'The bitch will get her neck wrung.'

(Ryuko) "And stabbed."

(Satsuki) "And sliced."

(Gamagoori) "And lashed."

(Sanageyama) "And cut."

(Inumata) "And torn."

(Nonon) "And conducted."

We all gave Nonon an odd look.

"… What? It's all I can do, you know!"

It was all the comic relief we needed to carry us for the rest of the two weeks.

* * *

The last supper had come too quickly, as always, and the meal less unique than the one we had devoured last month. Though we had already ate enough pork and rice in the last month to fill thirty elephants, Satsuki had reminded us that the best meal prior to an important event was one familiar rather than exotic.

Though the news had us distracted for a time.

"Another Nudist Beach attack." said Satsuki, shaking her head. "It may present an issue if Ryuko and I are asked to join Ragyo next week for the inevitable apology tour."

"Yeah." sighed Ryuko, flickering through the news on her phone. "Looks like two hundred dead, at last count. Over three hundred people sick or in comas. Some Honnōji students got poisoned, too - guess the syringes put some type of shit in their veins when their uniforms transformed. There's an antidote, at least, if you got to a hospital within an hour."

"Is that going to affect the raids?" said Nonon, her lower lip quivering.

"Nah. REVOCS won't back out of it, now - they'll look even worse, and the other fashion companies would hammer them from both directions for it. Only thing that'll help REVOCS is a clear victory."

'Why do Nudist Beach do these attacks? They don't even put out any demands, do they?'

"They do not." sighed Satsuki. "If they were only killing the rich, I would have little issue with them - but they bomb supply lines, ports, docks, and the like, and their activities have always been strictly limited to REVOCS, recently. I wouldn't be surprised if they were being funded by a rival fashion company."

"Considered a terrorist group in every country." Gamagoori shook his head. "Might just be a religious group. They don't need any reason other than heaven for what they do."

"With Ragyo, Satsuki, and I, as the devils." Ryuko shook her head ruefully. "Maybe we should bring Ragyo's head to them. Might get them off our backs once we take over."

"In due time. Regardless - it's only an hour until we shall leave. Remember to pack your personal belongings after you finish eating - we will not be making a return trip until after the raids." said Satsuki, standing like a white tower, her bowl emptied.

With a smile, she looked to Ryuko, still diligently plugging away. "Particularly the clothes I let you borrow, Ryuko."

My blood froze as those steel eyes pierced in to Ryuko's. A wave of revelation picked my brain and smashed it amongst the rocks, like a great serpent set to swallow me whole.

'Did you - give her a set of pajamas?' I muttered, silently praying.

Ryuko stifled a nervous laugh, as desperate not to reveal it as I were to forget it. "O-Oh - haha, yeah. T-That - yeah. I - do you mind if I keep those?"

Satsuki cocked her head, an odd expression crossing her face. "Of course. I never knew you liked bunnies, Ryuko."

As did I, apparently.

* * *

The scene when we arrived at Honnōji the next day was one of utter cacophony, a sight I had grown accustomed to over the years.

There were students all around us, mobs forming in to lines and loading themselves in to cruisers more military than scholarly. Near the stairs leading up to the academy, I saw club presidents loading uniforms in to these vehicles as if they were in a factory line. Their gazes met our's and gave religious adulation, their envy fanning the flames of an ego as titanic as the power with which I had been bestowed.

With stone faces, we negotiated past the milling mob and pressed our way through the commoners. They were clearing a swath like a red carpet in the blue halls.

Along the walls they laid, gawking like birds at the illustrious sight before them. The rest of Elite Five, formed as a circle around Satsuki and Ryuko, were privy to the same treatment, the same hushed murmurs and cries of compliments. They were as much music to my ears as Nonon's soothing melodies had been.

The conversations around were abuzz with news of a new Elite Five member.

"Is that the leviathan?"

"I got my ass kicked by him, once!"

"Do you think he'll sign my uniform?"

I couldn't help but suppress a smile. Appearances were important, whether leviathan or student body president. The cheers behind rang in our ears as we drew closer to Student Council's office, and a dozen guards gestured us inside with gazes no less devoted than the students'.

Outcast. The name was less pertinent than ever.

* * *

The other six had enjoyed the worship just as much as I had. Their grins were wide and their egos enormous as we sat together in the helicopter, our arrival at our three destinations a certainty within two hours. Inumata was already procuring a variety of holograms to life, blueprints and recreations of the academies we were each to be dropped off at, though I noted with a smirk he could barely contain his excitement. His gloved fingers were twitching and quivering, his eyes were furtively flirting.

"We should do this every day." Ryuko grinned. Even out of the public eye, she had found the display just as pleasing as the rest of us.

Satsuki regarded this with a smirk. "Perhaps. There's many academies across Japan that would serve well for target practice, and once we inherit REVOCS, the increased market share will be a boon."

I made mental note that I might start a Fight Club in university after all.

We were atop the earth's tallest mountain, and the world was a mere speck of dust rapidly passing by below through the glass windows of the fuselage, yet the seriousness of the battle ahead was growing by the moment.

With a nod and sensing the tension, Inumata's fingers darted in the air above the center of the fuselage. Like a puppeteer, he wove a hologram to life.

It was of a single building I knew to be Osaka's academy, a sight that looked as if it were transplanted from the west. The school was one-floor, a mess of concrete strewn above projected landscape below. Painted at the outer walls was an odd symbol, a stoic side-view of a masculine face, his hair a blue and red flag, with a single white star. At the front stood a pole with various flags waving as if to already mark their surrender, and as the view flew to the interior, I saw a single hallway from which several others branched.

The enemy could attack from several sides at once, and at any moment Inumata, Nonon, and Sanageyama could be trapped within one of these dead ends.

Yet as I looked to their faces, a variety of emotions were on display. Sanageyama, ready to erupt. Inumata, bated curiosity. Nonon, laughing like a fiend. Curious, I cocked my head just as the others not in their trio did.

"Oh man. They're gonna be so fucked - they don't know about me, right?"

"They might. I would assume they had sent their own analysts to Honnōji, though it would be unlikely they would know our abilities." murmured Inumata, spreading the map back to the exterior and beyond. A cacophony of buildings was strewn haphazardly in winding corridors, two-floors each with white pins marking their locations, the homes of the students we were about to raze. We would spare their lives, but not their livelihoods, in the pursuit of further testing.

It was what they had all signed up for, regardless. There was no greater glory than battle to be had, though the ensuing fight would leave them disgraced messes.

I shook my head. Sanageyama was infecting me with it.

His eyes were closed and his breathing deep, meditation for the battle ahead. He was a sitting statue, and the masterwork at his back ready to be pulled from the stone at any moment.

"Lecherous dogs." he murmured. His lips barely moved an inch. "The orchestra will reverberate within the walls, and then we shall see what precious Western spirit they have left."

"Always a nationalist." Inumata muttered, shaking his head. "Regardless, it's precisely why I suggested to Lady Satsuki that we be the three sent to Osaka. They'll, presumably, be lying in wait in these corridors, and so long as we can keep Nonon protected, it shall be quite easy to force the rest to us. As for the houses here - ah - your Music Club should assist us with that as well, correct?"

Nonon could barely contain her grin. "Yeah. It's all gonna echo through the walls and rip their assholes open."

"Contain yourselves." Satsuki muttered from a face that said she couldn't. Even the drill sergeant had allowed a peek of excitement to crack forth. "Inumata and Sanageyama - Science and Cultural Appreciation will be on their way shortly after your drop. Make certain you do not fall before then. It'll be quite mbarrassing if you do."

The trio nodded. "Yes, Lady Satsuki."

Satsuki's fingers steepled as she looked to Ryuko and I, and with a gesture to Inumata, he procured Kyoto's hologram.

Here, the other half of the hemisphere. It was a five-floor building dotted with glass windows. From the east and western ends protruded two hanging wings of concrete, covered in windows marking the location of individual classrooms. From the analysis that had been performed in to the academy, Ryuko and I would have to conquer the center building first, then storm our way to the opposite wings to clear every last corridor of the accursed academy.

And Ryuko's eyes were filled with no less anticipation than my own. We would be lions in an arena of stone against these gladiators, and our victory would be no less assured. A perfect match in many senses of the word.

"And here, Kyoto." Inumata smirked, hastily throwing his vision to the ETA at the front. "I presume you two have already discussed your tactics as a duo."

We nodded. 'We have. The telekinesis and Ranketsu's spikes work well together - she can hit far more targets, so long as I can redirect the spikes before they're gouged too deeply within their uniforms.'

"Or even if they are." grinned Ryuko, prodding my shoulder. "They're not gonna stand a chance."

The seven of us nodded, yet one question still burned at my lips. I had made a private request to Satsuki a few days prior, and she had not said yet whether she had granted it. I gestured to her and made to speak, and before the words came -

"I did grant the request." Satsuki smirked, closing her eyes and leaning back against the pilot's chair. "Inumata - I presume you gave the man a copy of the map as I asked."

He nodded, but was perplexed. Satsuki had only given him the barest information needed to fulfill the request, and as my responsibility, I could not leave the poor scientist with an unanswered question.

'I requested that Satsuki grant a specific student a Two-Star Goku Uniform for this. He won't be coming with Ryuko and I directly - but in lieu of any club members for either of us, I thought it would be useful to serve as a distraction when he razes their homes to the ground.'

I gestured to Inumata to spread the map again. Here, a far more composed row of homes, and each flag marked for demolition pinpricked at the top like the row of dominoes they were. It was almost a shame I would not get to see the work of the man himself.

"A request?" Ryuko grinned, just as curious on the mysterious comrade. "I thought you didn't have any Fight Club members?"

'I don't. There was a man who challenged me every year, the first day of the semester and the last, and while he could never best me, I thought it might be entertaining to let a man that determined loose on the dregs. They won't offer up much against him.'

"A true apprentice." Sanageyama smirked. "You should have let him in Fight Club from the start."

'Rules are rules.' I shook my head, and Satsuki filled the rest for me. "To either beat Outcast in battle, or to be considered worthy."

'He never showed enough improvement for the later - but he's tenacious.'

"Least we've got someone else out there." Ryuko shook her head. "Are there any other clubs even coming to our's?"

'Journalism club, though they'll be useless as anything but meatshields.'

(Gamagoori) "The price to pay for high standards…"

'We'll see. I've got faith - he'll fight harder than ever because of me hand-picking him, and even if he falls, I'm sure he'll take a dozen homes with him.'

(Ryuko) "Let alone what you and me'll do. It'll look like a tornado went through the place, and then a bomb hit it."

'Because it did.' I grinned.

Our arrogant demeanor fully upon us, the fuselage fell silent once more. Sensing the imminent request from Satsuki and Gamagoori, Inumata's fingers fluttered to life again as a third and final hologram appeared.

It was a skyscraper piercing the heavens like a drill, and just as pleasing to the eye as one. Miles of building material stretched so fiercely in to the sky that even the hologram did not show the full extent, and there were at least fifty floors within the accursed monstrosity. Inumata's fingers raked along the hologram and dragged the image further and further up, and like an infinite column it looped to maddening heights.

Satsuki held her hand to Inumata and bid him pause. It was clear the full display would take precious minutes to get through alone, and as if the gesture were practiced, I saw Inumata submit to her gaze and nod again. His fingers began to spread the image rapidly back, and the familiar flags dotted a ring of housing around the needle.

"And here, Tokyo." Satsuki murmured. "Quite a tedious climb, though it won't be a difficult one. What have they ascertained on their defenses, Inumata?"

"Little, Lady Satsuki." he muttered as if she were expecting this answer. "The classrooms spiral out in enclosures much like these circles of concrete, and an elevator lays at the center as transportation."

"They'll cut the power to it immediately." Gamagoori muttered. "I made note of it to Weight Lifting Club."

My eyes pinched with curiosity. 'You're an Olympic lifter?'

"What?" Gamagoori turned to me, and before I could speak, realization struck his face. He laughed and shook his head. "No, no. Two words. I appreciate that you think I could handle a split jerk, though."

[Weightlifting refers to the Olympic sport. Weight lifting refers to the hobby of lifting weights. A split jerk is a technique used in Olympic lifting - employed properly and with skill, it can add significant weight to an overhead press.]

'I was never explosive enough for it.'

Satsuki smirked. "Fortunately, the rest of the clubs shall be joining Gamagoori and I on this. Tennis, Sewing, Finance, and Electronics. If their members cannot make it to the tip of the tower directly through the outer walls, then we shall simply climb atop a mountain of their undressed bodies."

She said it with a tone that preceded an eruption of blood. I was almost disappointed I wouldn't be able to see her handiwork in person.

Our courteous exchanges finished, the fuselage fell silent once more. All for the battle ahead that was needed had been discussed, and here began the patience of the arduous journey ahead. Inumata, Nonon, and Sanageyama's drop would be in ten minutes - myself and Ryuko's, in thirty - and Satsuki and Gamagoori's, in ninety.

It would be a day like none other.

* * *

Twenty minutes passed by in twenty hours. The illustrious trio had already left through the back doors of the helicopter, soaring like meteors down to their targets below, and here, only myself, Ryuko, Satsuki, and Gamagoori remained.

Though the silence could never last forever.

"…think they'll be alright?" Ryuko muttered, her words tinged in anticipation.

"With Sanageyama as angry as that, he might end up burning down the entire district himself. He's got the spirit of a nationalist, all right." said Gamagoori.

'Is there, ah…' I gestured vaguely. '...a particular reason he's like that? You'd think someone who hates the rich wouldn't be a nationalist.'

Gamagoori grinned. "You should see the inside of his room, sometime. He's got enough samurai movies and anime to fill up a library, and then some."

"If he were in the West, he would be labeled an weeaboo. He barely escapes the label here." Satsuki said, shaking her head. "I doubt he holds any true animosity towards Westerners. He's simply a man who enjoys his power fantasies, and sees himself as a hero to the downtrodden."

Gamagoori and I shared an odd look.

If we had not wanted to engage in power fantasies, we would have never bothered becoming this wide. Sensing this, Satsuki held up her hand, and her smirk grew.

"I didn't say it was a negative. Inumata and Nonon will simply have to keep the dog on his leash."

'Let alone this one.' I jested, prodding Gamagoori at his side.

He threw his head up with a laugh. "As if. That armor'll be painted red by the time you two come back."

"It'll be a good show," Ryuko grinned, prodding me at the chest much the same. "My big, strong Outcast."

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw a small smile cross Satsuki's face.

"Speaking of your return, there is one request I would like to make, once we are successful with Ragyo."

"As if we couldn't be," Ryuko said. Her eyes lit with the same curiosity as my own.

And just as quickly as she had said it, pink circles clung to Satsuki's cheeks. Her brow furrowed, and her eyes lowered.

"… Ryuko. You are, of course, aware of…" Her hands wrung in circles. "… I would like for you - and your boyfriend - to join Nonon and I for a double date."

If Ryuko was grinning like a hyena before, this was set to dive like a hawk. "Someone's got the lovebug."

"She'll probably faint when you ask her." said Gamagoori, shaking his head as the odd man out.

"I - simply - her letter was quite nice, and we have known each other for years. It would be - improper to not at least give her the reward for the competition." said Satsuki, her cheeks as pink as her sycophant's hair.

"Are you sure?" grinned Ryuko. "Maybe you two should go alone. Something nice and candlelit. You two can get all dressed up for it."

"It's - simply for her benefit." muttered Satsuki in a voice that said it was for her's. "She may find it more relaxing if we are not alone together."

'And then, she'll write a love song for you.'

"P- Perhaps she will." Satsuki said, spinning her chair to the front to hide her face. "Do not think - I, Satsuki Kiryuin - would ever decline something as - devoted to praise of me as that."

Then, just as quickly, her voice cracked like a whip again.

"Your drop is here! Leave, and bring pride to H-Honnōji."

And so we left, to bring pride to H-Honnōji.


	5. Chapter 5 - Tri-City Raids

The three had dropped from the helicopter like soaring meteors, crushing through to the first floor of a home dozens of feet away from the academy. What little resistance they ran in to within fell underneath a single sword strike, and with a moment to catch their breath, a swift slice of the front door brought them to the familiar corridor of buildings, dotting the landscape like landmines.

As if they could ever be quiet now, the trio stole stealthily among side alleys and across freshly paved concrete. Their steps were practiced, their grips around their weapons assured. Their eyes searched through the hall of buildings, and the corners of darker alleys through which they were slinking.

They turned one casual corner, where two-floor homes let out to a wide clearing - and there, their target stood on the horizon.

Osaka's academy, a perfect replica of the hologram Inumata had woven to life, glared in their eyes. Barbed wire dotted the walls like a prison. At the entrance they were facing lay a triangular opening of stone as if it were inviting them in, and with a nod of assent, the three rushed off to this obvious attempt at an ambush.

Within this triangular enclosure was the main courtyard, of Western architecture, and Sanageyama's blood scorched his veins the more he caught sight of it. There were flags of these countries strewn along the walls, like tissue paper begging to be cut, and the three knew that lying in wait on the sides of the courtyard they could not yet see would be hordes of students in wait.

But they had no concern for being outnumbered. Their uniforms and coordination as three were mighty enough that it would take a hundred dogs to land a single bite, even if they had fought blind. Even a thousand may not have fared any better.

Over the whisper of the dry air and through his uniform's aid, Inumata could hear the near-silent gasps of breathing from foes lying in wait, like cool gusts on a winter night and just as visible to the analyst's senses.

As practiced, they would confront the dogs head-on.

* * *

If the trio were shooting but stealthy meteors, the leviathan and Ryuko were extinction. Kyoto's roof had welcomed them like a pig in shit and was just as pleasant to their senses as one. As they shot to their feet, there were a dozen students plastered underneath, combatants who had wished for victory on the shooting stars that had affixed their bodies to the pavement.

The ten-ton armor and the woman with spiked shoulders separated in to monsoons of violence, with no time to reflect on the crimson at their boots; the sound of cracked bones chattered in the air as the obsidian nightmare threw three men five stories below, and the jade horror kicked another three off of the roof, shunting the pitiable wingless creatures back to earth.

Below, the alarm rung out like a tornado siren; they knew another swarm of vermin would soon crash through the door leading from the fifth floor to the roof, and filled with bloodlust Ryuko and Outcast smashed and slashed through the dozen students still left standing. Their dripping weapons spattered blood and painted the sky a fiercer red - and in the next instant, the air fell silent.

The first battle of many had ended in seconds, and the two had not even taken a single blow. Even the titanic, hulking figure had managed to avoid being hit.

In anticipatory gait, they strode over to the door that led further down to the doomed academy, and always the gentleman, the leviathan opened it for her.

"After you, Lady Ryuko."

* * *

In Tokyo, within the academy's district, stomped a hundred boots in synchronization. The air was filled with red smog, and the sky was set ablaze.

Within the circles of housing spread the platoons of Sewing, Electronics, Finance, and Tennis, their backpacks clanging with explosives, bombs attuned only to concrete they had all been given more than enough of.

Through the center of the corridor and rushing to the tower on the horizon were two figures - one, prim and proper, black hair flowing in the wind as she ran - the other, behemoth. What resistance they ran in to as they went fell underneath a single swipe.

She could raid the entire academy with her eyes closed.

* * *

From Osaka's corridors rung a calamity of steel against steel, the samurai so rapidly carving his way through a demonic presence in human form. The platoons of men and women far weaker clashed against him, and in single strikes his blade reduced the mobs to singular ranks; his katana spattered blood and deeper yarn, a whirlwind of blows that struck a dozen times, and no student within the milling mob could land a single strike against the tsunami.

What few blows were not deflected or blocked absorbed directly against his uniform, and the deserved narcissism of the man was growing by the second. The blade flickered like a red nightmare and caught concrete as it gouged through uniforms, spraying blood and Life Fibers against the walls, enacting unconscious and undressed messes that the samurai trampled.

The path of unconscious bodies behind him was quickly growing; a red line was being cut clear and rending back the flood of students pouring from the adjacent corridors and out from the classrooms, and he rushed like an oni as he caught a dozen on the kebab of his blade slashing, hacking, slaying and butchering their ranks.

The wheat before him was being reduced to chaff underneath the masterwork he carried, and still, like a swarm of insects, they were upon him everywhere and nowhere. The foes making their way to clash with him and throwing themselves in to the unwinnable contest were growing stronger and stronger by the minute; they were beginning to present an actual challenge, or at least, what could pass for one.

The men were running ragged; they were caught within the whirlpool of the blade, slicing through a cloth field and clearing the path for the higher rank brethren rushing towards him.

At Sanageyama's back lay a red carpet of sputtering figures. At his front stood a dozen more. Their uniforms were ascribed with the Osakan academy's flag, covered in the blood of their fallen comrades. Sanageyama was silently glad he would never need to see the detestable sight of the Western flag. He was a yōkai against men, a demon among mortals.

He would have confessed openly he enjoyed the metaphor in his mind, the thrill of the hunt and the power fantasy brought to life; a line of spearmen was swarming him and making to pierce his armor, but Sanageyama was among them with a rush and a gigantic bound - yet as his sword slashed and smacked against the torso of one, his katana found far more resistance than the last.

They were far more durable; he swept back as a white and red streak, but they were gaining on him by the second. At such times false confidence strikes men strongly, and the enemy was heartened mightily, despite the butchering he had already performed; another rank was closing in at his back and pincering him in the single hall, a twin wall of metal that he could not pierce or break free from.

He was being inexorably backed in to a corner by the sundering spears, these blades he knew were not Japanese in origin, and an eruption of rage carried in to every strike and every clash in to which he was thrown - and again, the sheer armor of their uniforms was causing his sword to bounce off with every strike.

"The uniforms are invincible from the outside, Jap!" said one to him, erupting in to laughter.

Fortunately, there was no need to go the long route of it. With a cry Sanageyama repeated the same spectacle and slashed a foe's flank - again, the katana wilted and trapped in the fabric. Their taunting laughter rang in his ears as he wove between another succession of strikes, his sword still uselessly planted until -

"Omae wa mou - shindeiru."

\- too quickly for the sight to follow, Sanageyama's blade disappeared - instantly it reappeared, impaled through his foe's torso in an explosion of fabric. Crimson yarn and deeper liquid geysered and painted Sanageyama's a fiercer red, and the samurai yanked his blade from the internals.

His face was forged as tightly as the masterwork of steel, and as a shooting figure he shot off in dervish of blade, ferocious energy carrying every strike in a holocaust of madness. It was as if he had bathed in it before he left home today, and cruel laughter sang from his lips as the blade disappeared and reappeared again, negotiating fiercely past every flesh and Life Fiber obstacle his opponent's bodies were presenting.

"Come, Western dogs! Face the full might of the Rising Sun!"

The vermin were clearing a red street; they sat ragged and twitching, leaking torn fabric and wearing crimson sheathes. The prey that had ambushed him from behind ran terrified, rushing back to the main hall, tripping and staggering over their unconscious comrades, in to the flickering lights behind, and as they turned the corner -

\- the conductor's horrific screeching entered their ears, from the orchestra tied against her back, the symphony of instruments blaring and the walls echoing with the music of slaughter. For the foes before her, their ears were near set to burst - she was tuning it at the precipice of deafness, but never breaching it. They flailed their limbs and sputtered against the wall, twitching as they staggered in drunken circles, attempting to assure their balance with paralyzed hands. Yet it only beget another blast of sound from the pink-haired nightmare standing at the entrance to the corridor, the screaming of the samurai's katana behind ringing in what little hearing they still had left like twin death knells.

"Oh! Do you want a different genre?" Her fingers twiddled along the length of her baton, weaving forth another song that was sure to be as nightmarish as the last. Her childish features were contorted in narcissism, her lips quivered and her eyes closed in a sadistic display.

She would never admit how much she was enjoying the pain of the foes before her, their Life Fibers near set to burst open and paint the doomed corridor with fabric remnants of a crushing defeat.

"Metal?" She grinned, waving about the white and red baton around her. Instantly there began a cacophony far louder than the last, reverberations of sound waves that was like the heat of walking on the sun as it scorched their uniforms.

"Maybe classical?" Another wave, and from the symphony erupted a melody that left them utterly paralyzed. The men still conscious stumbled to their hands and knees; their grip shot to their ears. They were beaten; a straw in her hands. They were thrashing and beating their ears in defiance, but there was no tuning fork that would stop the orchestral defeat.

"Oh! I know!"

A fierce grin lit her face, and a wild fire gleamed in her eyes.

"Pop!"

A final wave, and their uniforms exploded in a cloud of fabric. The doomed corridor fell to silence, and Sanageyama strode past these foes with disappointment.

They were laid in a heap of Life Fibers and as undressed messes, mouths gaping, eyes open, their expressions frozen at their last moment of consciousness, like a screaming painting.

Sanageyama kicked the bodies to the side. The dogs had met a beast more savage than themselves.

The fighting still rung from the adjacent corridors. And as shooting figures, they rushed off again.

* * *

'I came here expecting a challenge - and all I found was you!' I shouted in a voice so hoarse my throat burned as it echoed through the doomed walls.

As twin figures Ryuko and I were fighting in death ground, an obsidian and crimson nightmare that were smashing like freight trains through the red carpet rapidly being created.

A dozen vermin had wilted against me before I could blink, and before I could a blink a dozen more were upon me. In wide sweeps, horrific stomps, I reduced their vaunted uniforms to pathetic fabric; I threw another three through a glass window, and in the next instant I was rushing at the rest. Jagged edges and swords as weak as their bearers shattered against me, and a red haze consumed my vision as I hacked and smote.

If I had worn a Kamui, there was no amount of attunement that would have saved me from the demon swallowing me whole.

And in sundering blows threatening to rip the world asunder, craters of concrete formed as their bodies smashed against the walls; whether thrown or gripped, it mattered not - Outcast was an obsidian nightmare consuming my soul. My gauntlets were red waterfalls. We tore through uniforms like tissue paper and swatted vermin aside in single strikes, innumerable insects being knocked unconscious in slices and hooks that would have instantly killed any undressed meat.

Ranketsu was engorging itself like a fiend on the field of crimson, and as green and black nightmares we rushed down the corridor filled with defenders who would fare no better than the rest.

Students wilted uselessly and spun wildly as if wooden houses thrown by a tornado, a flurry of gauntlets and blows their knives and blades were but helpless to be smashed open against. The new set of obsidian blades were proving themselves, not a single crack to be seen on the weapons that felled several in dual swipes.

We turned the corridor, seeking the much wider lobby that lay beyond -

\- and just as quickly, an explosion knocked us off our feet - a tumultuous rain of rubble shattered over our heads. Underneath the barren sea, I thrashed like a wild boar as my eardrums echoed with the remnants of the shockwave, and my fellow diver carved a path clear through the concrete. Again, as boyfriend and girlfriend, we rose like a phoenix from the ashes from that mountain.

And then, I saw it.

The titanic monstrosity that had caused the sudden explosion lay at the one end of the lobby, a clear and wide area. It was surrounded by another dozen students, far more armored than the last, protecting their fiercest display of resistance yet. Before we could move, it shot another shell and shattered open a storm of concrete against our backs - searing pain clouded my senses for the first time in the red haze of the raid, the battle suddenly screeching to a grinding halt as their soldiers beyond loaded another shell.

"Leave!" boomed a voice from within that vehicle. "Or the next shell is going through your skull!"

I could hardly contain my smile.

* * *

The bloodlust of the behemoth and the leader were no less savage, the inner walls of the academy given a fresh coat of Life Fibers and torn fabric sheets. Around the circular walls, she shot like a white and blue nightmare, rushing like a tornado set to rip the building from its foundations, setting a bloodied example for the allies clearing the stragglers at her backs.

Her dripping blade spattered; Tokyo's finest were rushing with a gigantic bound, and she was leaving a wake of undressed messes behind her. Low-rank vermin would never offer up a defense against the full might of a Kamui.

Another crowd of insects sought to corner her, to bring her within range of blades and steel far less durable - Satsuki leaped to the wall, assuring her position with Junketsu's heels as she went, piercing and swatting, catching rodents in the flickering sword as she slashed. Screams of their anguish mixed with her searing rage, steel unspooling yarn and blood spurting like acid rain against the walls.

"LADY SATSUKI." Junketsu spoke in its accustomed robotic tone. "OUR ATTUNEMENT IS NEAR 100% CAPACITY."

"More, more!" Her demonic laughter echoed through the doomed circle; the summoners before her had sold their souls in a contract too late to renege.

"LIFE FIBER CAPACITY - 90%."

They could not hear the mechanical soundtrack of its voice that pierced Satsuki's ears in time with her blade. She surged in zigzags across the wall, slicing a field of fabric, a white and blue nightmare shooting like a star between two near endless crowds of foes.

In the distance, the behemoth and the rest in her eyes, apex predators at two opposite ends. Weight Lifting club was proving itself in brute strength, if not as swiftly.

"LIFE FIBER CAPACITY - 91%."

\- and just as quickly, the final foe of the first floor fell. The battle ground to a screeching halt, but more vultures would lurk within the next floors. She would face them much the same.

The Kamui was giving her a target to reach, after all.

* * *

At the opposite wing of Osaka, a battle raged with no less ferocity than the bloodbath prior. There were swords slashing and screaming, students stomping and fleeing, and an unquenchable horde stood before the defenders. Their weaponry and what resistance they could offer were being rapidly crushed beneath horrific and seemingly synchronized strikes.

It was a dozen combatants against dozens, and in the midst of the milling mob stood twelve clones of a man with blue hair, a black suit, midnight gloves flashing knives that were stained crimson. Tattered fabric doused the walls as they advanced; the illusions and true master moved like synchronized puppets, gripping collars they slit moments later, movements the necromantic horde mirrored.

No matter how many of these blue nightmares fell in battle, another cloud of pixels would rise and take the place of its fallen comrade.

"Ahaha - can't you find me?" shouted one hologram as his blade impaled another rodent's chest, the phalanx of a dozen mirrors clearing rapidly a swath through a second doomed corridor.

"Of course they can't!" answered another. His voice was a carbon copy of his master, maniacal laughter echoing throughout the bloodstained walls of the academy. They stomped through rotting uniforms, and undressed meat wilting like dry tree roots.

"Come, come, can't you find the true Inumata? It won't stop until then!" shouted the true Inumata from the midst of the maniacal phalanx. They were ripping through the rest and dipping knives in red ink, yarn coating his suit so fiercely even a week's wash would never clean it.

If the dual sight at the adjacent wing of were twin nightmares, then this was a festival of horrors, red light shining off blue lenses of perfect illusions -

\- then they were through the milling mob and rushing to another wing of the complex, shouting taunts that echoed in perfect harmony. Behind them lay a graveyard of ragged messes, unconscious figures in a pile, stuck as closely together as the blue nightmares that had forced their defeat. In synchronized movements, and in death ground, clones and master marched. Their boots dripped crimson Life Fibers, puddling the floor with a slickness so wet he would trip if he weren't careful.

"Excellent work, if I say so, myself."

"Agreed! Agreed."

"So say we all!"

Raucous, singular laughter rang. The phalanx turned a corner, seeking their target within the main hall of the complex -

\- and before them, stood a man Inumata knew to be Osaka's student body president.

His muscular figure combined the strength of a grizzly with the speed of the panther. Cleats and football gear clattered around his sweat-soaked visage. There were no soldiers at his back, and his eyes burned with unquenchable savagery.

Yet a strange and honorable expression was upon his face, and the ringing of battle beyond was like the last toll of a bell set to crack. Implicitly, he was requesting a final duel between him, and one of the men that had so effortlessly defeated the lower ranks.

Inumata threw his head up with a laugh, and the illusory figures melted behind him.

It would be the perfect time to test it.

* * *

From within the doomed inner rings of Tokyo's finest housing, the cacophony of explosions rang, and within one of the homes still left standing, stood one woman on two men.

"Come, pay-pigs! If you'll deposit thirty thousand yen, perhaps I'll leave you enough time to gather your personal belongings before I burn your home to the ground!" grunted Finance Club's president as she dug black spiked heels against one's neck, stomping ferociously on their spines as if she were attempting to extract the payment directly. Her white hair streamed down her narrow shoulders, like a mop against her pinstripe purple suit, an indulgence she had been able to afford after the raid the year prior.

Two whips hung low from her grip as they snaked around her incapacitated foes' necks.

"J-Just take…" choked out the fat-bottomed sight underneath her right heel. In surrender, fatter hands dug in to his uniform's pockets and pulled a credit card forth.

"And the PIN, piggy?" she grinned as the spikes inched closer to paralysis.

"O-One-two-three-four-!" he sputtered, and the crack of the whip was the last sound he heard in consciousness.

She threw her head up with a laugh. "What an idiotic code to have! And would you like to say your PIN, pig two?"

"…U-Um."

* * *

The walls of the tower were high, but not impossible to negotiate. From prior analysis, the behemoth knew that within laid stairs that shot between the fifty floors of the complex, and only a single trek was needed.

His tendrils dug against the glass and shattered handholds to support his monstrous weight, and at his side repeating the same with her sword was the fellow apex predator.

Through the windows, they saw their foes - behemoth and leader shot their legs through and smashed open the windows in an apocalyptic display of glass, and before the defenders could turn they were smashing like freight trains through the ivory-stained circular enclosure. His tendrils caught a dozen by their heels and threw them out the path he had just carved; Life Fibers like lassos shattered beneath his grip as he ejected another dozen shooting meteors, and their screams echoed like the crack of lightning.

Thrown in to demoralized confusion by the unexpected incursion and storm of violence, they fell in to demoralized confusion - some focused wildly on the aristocrat, some on the behemoth as he charged them, and all failed, as is inevitable when men's attention is divided.

Their uniforms cracked as his gauntlets smashed and cratered crimson clouds, white and red tatters billowing around his torso and matching the unchained uniform underneath. The hurricane of blows smashed his foes across the railings and the tendrils threw them to the floor below, kicking up hailstorms of yarn as the tentacles lashed their prey.

The behemoth was a man after power fantasies come to life in every sense of the word, and as the rest of the club members rushed higher and higher, he almost felt some disappointment that he could not break every uniform himself. His arms were tree trunks and the tentacles his roots, ripping open another explosion of fabric as if he were a kraken seeking to capsize the pathetically wooden ship and sailors all around him.

The next floors would prove just as easy.

* * *

'Come, come, fire again!' I bellowed to the discarded chunk of metal before me, canisters of explosives shoved down the maw of the cannon like a cork in a wine bottle. A storm of discarded ammunition drilled through the last dozen defenders of the precious tank, my left gauntlet a flurry of movement as ghastly hands threw, caught, pushed, and pulled.

Ryuko was already among them with a rush and a gigantic bound, and in hateful stomps I vied to the apex of the tank. The mountainous trek proved just as pleasurable as the sight of its comrades when Outcast's telekinesis had shattered it with its own explosive shot, and as if digging for gold I ripped fiercely in to the internals of the beast.

Scrap metal painted green shifted red underneath the crimson horror stomping, obsidian fingers hooking deeper within the top latch where its pilot must have sat. At my back, the girlfriend was erupting in to a hailstorm of strikes and sprinkling blood like acid rain, laughter matching my own as I sundered down the vertical of the beast.

And within it, a pathetically weaker president, his lip quivering, his protection around him rapidly crumbling. He hadn't even worn a uniform, so assured was he of the invincibility in the armored tank, and I was his worst nightmare come to life. Before he could scream, I ripped him by his neck and threw him to the adjacent wall, and my eyes gleamed with a ferocious fire as I hooked my gauntlets around the base of the cannon that had defied me so.

I, too, had an idea.

* * *

"Ahaha - what's the matter, Osakan dog?" cackled Inumata at the drunken mess before him.

The president was staggering like a wild animal, his arms thrashing under a slurred gravity, his body weighed with the force of two-tons. Sweat dripped down a reddened face, of frustration and anger, and the incessant dodging of the blue trickster a taunting dance.

At the Osakan's back and precariously out of his wide reach, a device shaped like a black clothespin was affixed, pulling the Life Fibers of his uniform taut and weighing his movements down with the strength of a hundred men. The blue-haired mad scientist was toying with him in a flurry of circles, midnight black suit shrouded by light blue lenses splattered with the deeper red of his former opponents.

And like his former opponents, this dog would heel like the rest. The president's arms were limping, smacking against his torso like a gorilla. His fingers uncurled; his blade dropped to the ground, and the blue trickster swept underneath his slurred movements and scooped it from the ground.

"Ahaha - truly, I could watch this all day! I should take video of you - what a wonderful sight you are! Ah - try again, try again! Perhaps you'll succeed on this stroke! What a drunken sight you are! You'll never -"

\- too quickly for the sight to follow, a katana impaled through the Osakan's back, and his uniform exploded in a cloud of red. Instantly the holograms sprung to life again, not knowing if it portended an ally or some usurper, and as the cloud cleared -

\- there, Sanageyama stood, grinning at the dishonored sight that lay at his boots.

"You looked as if you needed help." he said with his traditional sardonic wit.

Inumata shook his head, and noted Nonon standing at Sanageyama's right shoulder, sporting a smirk just as wide. The sound of fleeing boots were echoing through the entire academy, and as if it were a trophy animal, Sanageyama dragged the undressed sight up by his neck.

"They're always so sleepy after they get neutered." laughed Nonon.

"And here is your clothespin, Inumata." Sanageyama grinned again, handing the wondrous device back to its creator.

He was just as eager to throw himself back in to the fray.

* * *

In Kyoto's district limits laid a corridor of razed buildings, smoke billowing and burning through the air. At the midst of this corridor, stood one man against dozens.

His face was pimpled with acne - and no longer was there any regret over one-sided defeats. The leviathan had chosen him personally. His freshly woven Two-Star Goku Uniform was a purple robe flourishing about him as if he were royalty, and around him billowed a strand with a jagged boomerang at the end, and as he ran -

"Take it, bitch!" he shouted with untold joy as another series of scars cracked from the boomerang's lash, carving a jagged wound across one of his pursuer's cheeks.

The leviathan had ordered him personally for this mission, and the crown prince was not only fighting in death ground; he was fighting for the right to that goliath's praise and the pride of Honnōji, and the red joy of the battle was soaking him to his ankles.

Before the men at his back could surround him, he smashed through like a whirlwind of thorns, erupting like a rose bush and lashing long scars; then he was through the three ahead and stringing along the dozens at his back. Down deeper alleys and with pursuers hot at his heels he ran, searching with his eyes for his escape, on paths and along buildings he had memorized.

"You guys don't know your own streets? You should've spent less time in school!" he shouted back at the shooting figures behind him, and his stride shifted to higher pace.

He ducked past one corner and threw the boomerang back again, and the purple projectile was the last sight one saw before it brained him unconscious; yet the hunters still pursued, knowing he to be trapped within the rows of alleyways. The crowd scattered in two separate halves, and a dozen hunters circled, making their way at a rapid pace to the exit of the corridors from where he would run out.

But quick thinking counted for more than memorization.

As he stole through another alley next to a single home, he caught sight of the wall of men at the exit; another rank was closing in from behind, and growing closer and closer by the moment. His eyes searched wildly again, and with the instincts of a cornered man, he leaped and smashed through the windows of the home; in the midst of the kitchen where he landed, he ran like a man possessed to the second window that would serve as his exit. As he went, he threw a set of fire bombs behind, and the house burst in to flames as he leaped through another window, making a fiery and swift escape as the pursuit began anew.

"See you later, virgins!"

As the leviathan had commanded, he would burn half the city to the ground before he would ever allow himself to fall.

* * *

The eastern wing of Kyoto's academy was even bloodier than the west.

The berserk couple had separated to opposite wings, the strength and range of the cannon he had ripped from the tank assuring him the advantage, and the feast before Ranketsu assuring Ryuko the advantage. Whirlwind dervishes and obsidian blades shot like a tornado down the corridor, swiftness and strength carrying through as if she were a factory mill tuned far too violently.

She was a sawblade cutting to dust the vermin; her newest blades spattered Life Fibers, her Kamui absorbing and swallowing them whole, growing new spikes that were crusted red.

"More, more! Feed the beast!"

Her taunts screamed as the windows around her shattered like glass bombs. In seconds she had carved past a dozen more, demonic presence in human form as terrifying as the leviathan smashing through the classrooms at the western end. Jagged edges shattered open a hailstorm of metal as she blocked, and whirled, and weaved her way past a storm of strikes; then she was surging through to the end of the corridors where the last bastions of resistance lay, as violent and bloodthirsty as a shark.

The corridor was packed and running red, streaming with pursuers and runners down in and out of adjacent halls, flickering steel that obsidian cut.

A foe would attempt to catch her in his grasp, his blade seeking some absolutely vital spot to quell the unstoppable Kamui, and yelling like a wolf she would catch him with the sweep of a blade, she would impale one of her daggers through his chest; she threw one of these interrupting vermin out a broken window, and with a laugh, she rushed through an empty corridor and stomped a carpet of unconscious victims. The fabric she had torn would keep Ranketsu sated for months, and again, and again, jade spikes ejected to the exposed sections of every foe she caught sight of. A red haze coated her vision and angelic step, her boyfriend at the other end and presenting a choice between hell and hell.

She was almost sad the battle would be over soon.

* * *

"Fortissimo! Forte - forte!" yelled just as narcissistic a sight as the pink-haired conductor, conducting frantically a symphony only half as horrific as the last, the remnants of Music Club behind her and gasping like feral dogs, keeping a steady paralysis on the last bastions of the housing defenders.

"Come on! Louder!" she shouted as she ripped her vision to the exhausted students behind her. Her voice cracked like a whip as her fingers shunted black spiked bangs out of her face. "If you don't play louder, Nonon and I are gonna beat the fucking shit out of you! Let alone what Weight Lifting Club'll do to you -"

\- in an instant the symphony nearly shattered her eardrums, and she couldn't be prouder.

The threat of being shoved in a locker always worked.

* * *

The fortieth flight was no less a killing floor than the last.

Her blade was coated in Life Fibers, her hair bathed in yarn; yet the attunement and rush of battle had crazed her. She felt as if she could fight for years more - the white nightmare turned crimson carved out another path, slashing as if the world would end the next day, and by her side was the behemoth, smashing like a meteor, clashing of blade and tendrils like a perfect symphony.

"LIFE FIBER CAPACITY - 99%. FULL ATTUNEMENT IMMINENT."

* * *

"Incredible, incredible, incredible!" laughed Inumata as the rest of their prey fled. Far from the battle crazed storm they had been so caught in earlier, the trio were more than pleased to take a brief rest on a matter just as important. Their clubs were already set around the perimeter of the district, and would ensure no escape without a proper beating.

"How's that for battle data?" grinned Nonon, watching through the front doors of the academy, the rest of the stragglers being cut down by the instruments of Music Club. She pressed open the door beside the trio, and at the spot they had chosen, they strode to the center of the room with their devices at the ready. Her hands pressed firm against the floor as she planted it.

"Even the leviathan should have some improvements with this." Inumata smirked and shook his head, as if he could hardly believe it. "The data shall all be uploaded back at the bunker - what a fruitful week of research it shall be!"

"We haven't finished yet." grinned Sanageyama with a hint of nostalgia to his voice.

* * *

In the center of the fiftieth floor clashed blade and blade, white against pink.

The illustrious student body president of Honnōji and the lavish student body president of Tokyo's Sensōji lit in a ferocious display of sparks, snarling like dogs as their blades smashed against each other. In a whirlwind of scarlet tatters and white rage the two shot around the circular enclosure, a series of gashes cut clear through the walls. Their blades rend and slashed, both seeking to corner their illustrious opponent, to force them against the walls they carved lacerations through.

Their pain was soaking their uniforms to their ankles as they shot at each other again, the entire academy silent outside of the duel of the two titans at the tip of the ivory tower.

"Come, REVOCS heir! Show what your Kamui is made of!" shouted Satsuki's foe, sweat soaking her short sanguine hair, crimson coating her cheeks and jagged scars through her face where Satsuki had already struck.

She was streaming blood from a score of wounds, and though the surrender of her academy was inevitable, she blocked frantically against the white horror; in dozens of strikes that erupted as quickly as one they shot around the perimeter, the ferocity of their clash leaving no concrete unmarked.

In a singular white streak, Satsuki circled like a tornado and impaled her blade through her foe's back, and before Tokyo's president could react, Satsuki had circled again and retrieved her blade from the front. The ferocity and cruelty of the woman was immeasurable; a clear hole had been left where the sword had butchered, searing pain coursing the Tokyo president's every movement as she staggered drunkenly.

Yet far from a defeated foe, the Tokyo president still fought as well as her last legs could carry her, screaming as loud as Satsuki as their blades met again. Inch by inch, Satsuki forced her back, titanic might sufficing to win every clash in to which the two were thrown.

Satsuki was toying with her prey. With an arrogant laugh, she retreated from the clash, and as the Tokyo president's sword caught air, the true show began as Satsuki swept underneath a dozen strikes.

Her superiority was showcased - at any moment she could end the fight with a blade at her opponent's neck, her laughter and narcissism on full display as she dodged another, the steel catching only air.

"Something amiss, Tokyo vermin?" shouted Satsuki, as another strike narrowly missed her internals. "You've asked what my Kamui can do, after all! I've given you a proper demonstration of it!"

In a prodigious leap she shot to the opposite well - then back to her prey, and their swords clashed again as the women snarled like demons possessed.

Yet inexorably, Satsuki's grip was failing her, the hilt of her sword repelling her touch like identical magnets; before she could react, her opponent had ripped the blade from her grasp. The pink sight stood with a blade in each hand, and it was a certainty whatever ability had just occurred would leave Satsuki unarmed for the remainder of the duel.

"You seem quite flummoxed, Honnōji princess!" preened Tokyo's president, smashing the two blades together to form one dual, as if it were a single scissor. "The swords are bound together by magnetization, now! Even your Kamui can't dislodge the strength of it!"

And too quickly for the sight to follow, she rushed after Satsuki.

Now it were Satsuki forced to adopt defensive maneuvers, weaving frantically between the combined blades, chattering about her and readying to snap her within its maw just as efficiently. The president's arrogance was gaining her untold advantages in the fight, and before the prey could realize the hunter had cornered it -

"- and now, to magnetize the blade against your body -"

"Junketsu! Beam!"

\- too quickly for the sight to follow, white beams of light erupted from Junketsu's eyes. They tracked their prey and sliced through the president with perfect precision, the heat scorching the pathetically exposed Life Fibers underneath.

The floodgates were ajar for the Tokyo president's veins and tore; she screeched, as if an instrument tuned sharp. She began to stagger, the lasers drilling like surgical instruments as they wove at tremendous speed, and before she could offer up a single strike more, her uniform erupted in to a pillar of flame.

Ashes mixed with crimson coated the air. The blades smacked against the ground, and in seconds, the uniform disappeared, smoke and embers collecting underneath the now-undressed sight.

"LADY SATSUKI." Junketsu's voice echoed through her ears and the air outside. "WE HAVE REACHED FULL ATTUNEMENT."

* * *

We surged through the deadened halls like apex predators and smashed through like freight trains, echoing bellows from empty classrooms and off deader walls, sundering and plundering every last uniform we could find. Concrete shot up underneath our stomps in a hailstorm of rubble, as if rewarding us for every inch of razed ground in the black halls.

There were no more words to be shared, no hoarse shouts as we pursued after the last prey still retreating further down the accursed halls. Black walls streamed past as our vision as we pounced on every last sputtering man in turn, humiliation in their eyes from the grips we took with them, and the sheer amount of fabric we ripped from them.

As Ryuko had predicted, it was a pretty good date.

* * *

"Perfection, perfection!"

A wild fire blazed in Satsuki's eyes as she threw her head up with a laugh. The club members circled at preassigned coordinates, out of range of the final fireworks, and the last gnats scattered from the tower like rats fleeing a sinking ship.

The behemoth and leader kept a wide distance from the tumultuous academy, laughing, guffawing, wringing blood and sweat from black and blonde hair.

It would be a sight to behold.

* * *

"Ready?" Ryuko grinned to me as if I could ever decline her.

'Always.'

* * *

"And now," Inumata crossed his arms, checking to assure the three were out of range, "we count, very carefully."

(Sanageyama) "Seven!"

(Inumata) "Six!"

(Nonon) "Five!"

* * *

(Ryuko) "Four!"

'Three!'

* * *

(Gamagoori) "Two!"

(Satsuki) "One!"

* * *

And across the three districts erupted a tremendous hailstorm of fire, consuming concrete and falling rubble, explosions reducing the buildings to scrap metal and refuse. Shockwaves shook through the land like a nightmarish, non-lethal earthquake.

Smoke billowed in thick spirals through the air, red smog clinging over barren terrain in a tornado of mist, the smashing of the skyscrapers against their foundations near set to break the sound barrier and the eardrums of every witness. Their cheers were as loud as the apocalyptic display before their eyes, horrific screeching as tons of rubble smashed open and shattered even further in a cacophony of wanton destruction.

And silence fell over Osaka once more.

The last vestiges of fighting died out in face of such an utterly crushing defeat. There were no more hoarse taunts to be shout - no clash of steel with steel - and no sparks to light the deadened district. The buildings were razed to their foundations, burnt to bits, unconscious and unharmed bodies laying like a pile of weeds throughout the terrain.

Their student housing, and their academy, were gone in a single day. Within short order, the corporation's Life Fiber mines would be signed to REVOCS' control, and the news would sing the supremacy of REVOCS' uniforms.

Inumata shook his head and laughed. He was panting like a feral dog, and he could still hardly believe his eyes. There was blood streaming in rivulets down his brow, neck, and penetrating in deeper pools through his suit, and the two beside him were faring little better.

Yet in their minds, the sweetest taste of victory was directly before them, the razed and ruined rubble of Osaka's finest academy.

"The Western dogs have fallen." grinned Sanageyama fiercely, hair soaked in torn Life Fibers and sweat.

"Now, now." said Inumata. "Let's call the helicopter back. The air here is dreadful."

* * *

"Honnōji Academy has proven itself the victor, once more!" shouted Satsuki to the adoring crowd below. She stood atop one of the skyscrapers not yet demolished, and her oration carried through both the winds and hearts of all gathered. "The cruisers you took here shall be waiting to take you home! Return to your assigned rendezvous!"

"This never gets any less fun." Gamagoori muttered at her side.

"I couldn't agree more."

* * *

"We fucking did it, leviathan!" said my favorite protégé as we threw our arms around each other, a comradely display like none other. "My fucking - whoo! Fucking shit! They're not going to be able to rebuild this fucking shitheap for years!"

'Maybe we should salt the earth, just in case,' I guffawed as I pat him on the back. 'I thought you'd end up getting your ass kicked halfway through, you know.'

He shook his head and the blood out of his eyes, his purple robe shaking like a wave around him. "Nah, leviathan - I knew you'd beat my ass if I fell here. I was running like a fucking beast through these alleyways - they must've had at least thirty, forty guys on me, man."

He shook his head again. He was barely believing it himself. "You two got transport back, right? Guess you elite types don't go in the same cruisers."

'Unfortunately not,' I grinned as he began to turn away. 'Got a helicopter coming to pick us up - I'd let you in if I could, but it's already cramped with the seven of us in it.'

"Nah, man, it's all good. Got my brand new home in the Two-Star district to go back to - told me it's primo real estate. Can't wait to check it out." He threw his head up with a laugh, and with another wave of my left gauntlet I sent him away. His bellowing laughter and guffawing taunts, to none in particular, echoed down the corridor of razed buildings. I couldn't help but smile out of pride.

"Jeez." Ryuko grinned, prodding me at my shoulder. "He's a real weirdo."

'If you say so. He's not a bad fighter for someone from Journalism Club.' I smirked and shook my head. From within my breast pocket, where Outcast's armor was strongest, the communications device Inumata had given me began to rang. I scooped it between my fingers -

\- and Ryuko gripped my wrist. Curious, I cocked my head.

'Something wrong?'

"You know why he's calling, right?" She laughed. "He's asking if he should send the helicopter over."

'Is there a reason he shouldn't? We've already burnt the place to the ground, you know. Everyone's either unconscious or gone. Even the cameras have left.'

Her grin was growing by the second. A flash of black streaks, and she was untransformed, the blood beginning to clear from her features and my own. Her next words carried a sultriness to which I was beginning to grow accustomed.

"Mmm… Exactly. This is the last time we can do it here, you know." She winked and pulled my palms to her skirt, and comprehending the trend of the conversation, I placed the phone back in my breast pocket. The mad scientist could always wait.

[SEX EXPUNGED]


	6. Chapter 6 - If I Had Worn A Kamui

The scene when we returned to Honnōji was as uproarious as before, the students who had been assigned to defense, and those who had returned earlier swarming us as hordes of adoring fans. Their cheers and adulation rang in our ears, the news playing throughout the halls, and as a circle of five figures surrounding our two illustrious student body presidents, we walked as immortals among men. It took a titanic effort to merely pull ourselves away from the crowd for a moment, and even as we strode in to the elevator, they were throwing their praise to high heavens.

And from what Inumata had ascertained on the journey back, the defense had been just as much of a roaring success as our own. Even my prior housing in the One-Star district still stood, and a small hint of nostalgia had tinted my heart as he said it.

Yet we were quickly drawn to more pertinent matters, and the future weighed heavier on our shoulders than ever.

Satsuki pressed open the doors to Student Council's chamber, and we took our seating with rapid calm.

"Jeez." Ryuko grinned as she prodded my shoulder, still lightly soaked in blood. "Guess we really did paint our uniforms red."

'Apparently.' I murmured, taking off the crimson sight and placing it at the back of my chair, a prepared white shirt and jeans worn underneath for such matters.

"It's incredible, incredible, incredible how much data I've gained from that alone." Inumata shook his head. "Why, I might not even need the project after all."

'The project?' I cocked my head, as curious as the others.

"Ah - it's nothing, really, merely -"

\- outside of the chamber, the elevator roared to life and shot back down. Presuming it to be the hated countenance of Nui, a series of groans no less disgusted shot through our seven.

"Quite an annoying gnat." murmured Satsuki, though even the couturier's appearance would not dilute her fervor.

"At least we'll get to kill Ragyo, soon." Ryuko muttered, fingering her bruises ruefully. "Cultural Arts Festival. One week. I'll get started on the uniforms once we head back to the bunker."

'Of course.'

Outside, I heard the elevator doors open. Yet what followed a moment later was far from the clicking of heels, the scrape of the dwarfish couturier that still rang in my mind. It was the footsteps of what sounded as boots, or some lighter shoes.

"… An odd time for this visit." said Satsuki, an eyebrow raised.

A knock rang from the door, and before any could stand, it opened, and in stepped a dark-skinned woman.

She was a fashionista in every sense of the word, rainbow-trimmed sunglasses like Ragyo's hair, and a white vest over a black shirt. As I had predicted, she wore boots below a denim skirt. From her back extended six metal stalks like Junketsu's and Ranketsu's, carrying six sets of eyes that looked as if they had been clipped from butterfly wings.

"Hello, Lady Satsuki." smirked the new arrival.

"Hello, Rei." stated Satsuki plainly, clearly used to dealing with her mother's assistant. "You've heard the good news, I presume."

Rei nodded. "I have. You've made your mother quite proud."

"Of course." said Ryuko.

Rei's neck snapped to look to the woman, a hateful glint in her eyes.

"I was not referring to you, Ryuko."

Her eyes underwent a wild turn. A fire gleamed in her eyes, and before Ryuko could respond -

\- the other six clutched their ears tightly - their uniforms went suddenly taut and Life Fibers spewed from the cracks forming. I spun my vision wildly, and saw their faces grit tightly underneath immense pain, looking as if they might shatter like glass at any second.

"O-Outcast…" grunted Ryuko next to me.

"W-What is the meaning of this?" grunted Satsuki, her hands clutching tightly her ears as if they might burst at any moment.

It was an utterly bizarre scene, the six paralyzed and staggering to their hands and knees, and I, unaffected.

"Ah - how unfortunate. Your leviathan took off his uniform prior to Absolute Submission." Rei shook her head ruefully. Her fingers dug in her pocket and drug out a knife, steel teeth and venom dripping from the blade. "Fortunately, it's not as if an undressed sight can stand against a dressed. I'll make certain to kill him first, as the rest of you will be helpless with your uniforms constricting you so tightly."

'What - what have you done to them?' I sputtered out, shooting to my feet.

The foe was regarding me with a careful glint in her eyes, her gaze still darting between the six stumbling on their hands and knees. Red ropes shot from their uniforms and constricted their wrists against the ground, their senses utterly focused on preventing a collapse in to unconsciousness.

I realized a moment later the manner Rei had described me.

She was preening, wrapping her fingers around the hilt of the blade, in far more amusement than I.

"Absolute Submission. One of REVOCS' finest projects against all manners of Life Fibers, of course. If you'd like to experience it for yourself, all you need to do is put on your uniform. The frequency emitted by these uniforms pulls every Life Fiber within range taut like a cable - even the strongest sword could not cut these bo-"

\- too quickly for the sight to follow, Outcast's gauntlets caught up a stool and hurled it. Rei instinctively threw her arm up with a cry, but not in time. The missile crunched against her skull -

\- and in the next instant I was among her with a rush and a gigantic bound. I ripped her by her hair and smashed her skull against the wall, the surprise of such an attack leaving her temporarily paralyzed just as the six behind me were.

'Outcast is not made of Life Fibers.' I grunted as I smashed her against the wall again - her former strength quickly returned to her, and she shot herself away from me -

"Satsuki! Tame your leviathan!"

\- and as I rushed at Rei again, her eyes underwent a wild transformation. From within her nails shot forth a single Life Fiber; out of the corner of my eyes, I saw it wrap around Satsuki's neck like a noose, and like the teeth of a snake it sank deeply in to the top of her spine. Blood geysered out in ferocious quantities, and before I could grasp Rei again, the dark-skinned fashionista wove between my blows with unspeakable swiftness, and as her blade sought my throat -

'Outcast!'

I swept my left gauntlet back. Ghastly hands ripped the knife from her grip, planting it out of her reach, and I was among her with a rush and a gigantic bound again. Her wrists cracked as I craned her bones back against the wall -

\- and a familiar sword impaled my flank. Thrown in to demoralized confusion, I turned.

And there, stood Satsuki. Junketsu's transformation was upon her. Her gaze was sunken and clear, and her expression was stoic and stone. Around the hilt of her blade grit her fingers so tightly either it or her might shatter, and from the back of her neck spooled the single strand from Rei's nails like a cable, pulsating like an artery clogged.

"Would you like to try again?" snarled Rei in my ear.

Before I could respond Satsuki erupted against me in a series of lashes, horrific cuts leaving a deep score of scars on my chest. If my prior confusion were demoralized, this was utter. I could offer up little in the way of blocking against so ferocious of an opponent, her blade spattering fresh blood; my right gauntlet filled with crimson as I threw a desperate block, and my left gauntlet threw her to the opposite wall even more desperately, seeking to put some distance between myself and the friend-turned-foe.

She was like a white and blue nightmare as she shot back across the chamber; her flurry of strikes raked the top layer of Outcast's armor off in thin sheets, and though my gauntlets took the next strikes directly, the inherent fear of damaging her dulled my blows.

I shot my grip to the red strand -

"Ahahaha, are you seeking to rip it open?" snarled Rei at my back, far more pleased. "You may try, if you would like - it'll kill her instantly, of course."

In blood-soaked vision, I saw Satsuki's deadened eyes asking the same question.

In the moment I hesitated, her sword impaled through my entire torso; she smashed me against the wall as the sword narrowly missed mortal organs, blood geysering against her face and shrouding her like a crimson horror. Blackened edges and stars dotted my vision as I sank limply off of her blade. Searing pain coursed through my body, and as her blade readied for decapitation -

\- too quickly for the sight to follow, a figure shot from the main lobby - their dripping blades spattered blood and decapitated Rei in an instant. Blood rained from the stump of her neck, and before she had even fallen the mysterious figure had carved her limbs to mince. I saw Satsuki spin wildly and fall, severed connection like a frayed cable hanging through the back of her hair. The whirlwind that had entered so suddenly had sliced apart the puppeteer's string.

Our mysterious interloper had saved each of us in an instant, and I hadn't even caught sight of them yet. Clouds of darker crimson swirled around the room in red eddies. Silence fell over the room, and Rei's head fell limply to the floor; cubes of flesh sank, and became rigid.

My consciousness was fading, darting between black vision and bloodied, Outcast flashing in waves over my body. A hole had been drilled clear through my chest by Satsuki's final blow, and I clung desperately to any sense I could carry. Any sight I could see or sound I could hear meant I was not yet dead -

\- Satsuki's limp body fell against my skull, and I passed out.

* * *

"O-Outcast, wake up - please, please be alive - oh god -"

\- the voice of the mad scientist jolted me to consciousness. Immediately I sat up straight, Outcast appearing in flashes over my body - and just as quickly, the pain reminded me what an awful idea it was.

"T-Thank god. One beacon of light in this nightmare." panted Inumata.

Through blurred vision, I ascertained that we had, through a miracle, escaped that hellish chamber. I was laid like a corpse in the fuselage of the helicopter, and felt ready to be buried; pants of exertion clung to scars that had penetrated through to my inner cheeks, and my heart was still near set to burst in my chest.

Inumata sat at the pilot's chair, and a small figure caught my vision at the corner of my eyes. I turned -

\- and suppressed a shriek of horror.

"Oooo!" preened Nui, raking her blades shaped like halves of a scissor through her hair. "I guess Mr. No-Life-Fibers sure has good durability, huh?"

'T-This - I have to be dreaming -' I sputtered, pain scorching my body as I weakly made to sit.

"O-Oh goodness, you're alive, t-thank god." sobbed Inumata. From the movement of the helicopter and sputtering of the engines, I surmised quickly we were making a swift journey.

'I - what is - she - and the others -' I stuttered out what felt like a billion questions in a dozen seconds, and if the battle prior hadn't killed me and sent me to hell, I might have still died on the cold metal from shock.

"Arriving in - five minutes." said a feminine voice from the console.

"N-Nui - please tell me that Ragyo does not know, please -" sputtered out Inumata, as set to burst from stress as I was.

"Ooo! Don't be silly! Of course she knows where your bunker is, Inumata-mata! She's probably sending a big squad over there right now!"

"O-Outcast. I - I can explain it all, later, but - are you well enough to fight? Nonon tried her best to stitch your wounds, but we cannot -"

'I-Inumata - slow down, I can't -'

"I CAN'T EITHER! O-Outcast, if you cannot fight within five minutes - we're dead - Ragyo will kill every last one of us - she'll kill Satsuki, she'll kill Gamagoori, she'll kill Nonon, she'll kill Sanageyama, she'll kill me, she'll kill Ryuko -"

"He's such a basketcase!" Nui preened.

She was right, as much as I hated to admit it.

The jittering of the man in his white shirt and jeans -

\- he was not wearing his uniform. My heart was near set to fall under the tension threatening to crush me like a tsunami, and as I had always done in such matters, I allowed the most animalistic parts of my brain to take the lead.

I closed my eyes. At my chest, a score of wounds were still streaming blood - covered in bandages so tepid they restricted my breathing. My movements were as sluggish. Exhaustion weighed every attempt to move my limbs.

'I can fight. Tell me who you need me to fight.'

"R-Ragyo's goons." he sobbed. "P-Please, Outcast - please. I need to reach the room, at the bunker - remember my examination chamber?"

'Yes.'

"Ooo! Now he finally says it, to his trusted comrade. He dragged me along without even telling me where we were going!"

"P-Please. I must reach that room. You and Nui must protect me. All of our lives depend on it. R-Ryuko's life depends on it."

'And, after, you will tell me why Nui is here.'

"I can tell you that now! It's-"

"Y-Yes. All will be explained - b-but please, I must be protected - Absolute Submission destroyed our uniforms, and Nui -"

' - Inumata. Protect Inumata. Go to examination chamber. I have it. Explain more later.'

My eyes shot open. He was still a sobbing mess.

"Looks like we're on guard duty, leviathan! Don't let Inumata-mata die!" preened Nui as the helicopter began its steady descent.

Out of the windows of the fuselage I saw thick trees and thicker green, and below rang out a fierce cacophony. I shot to my feet alongside Nui and caught sight of the hell we were rapidly descending in to, a storm of soldiers clad in black garb circling around the landing zone. The bunker entrance was like a thin concrete prison jutting out of the crowd, and another black line were shoving their way through. They were set to raid and plunder every last room of the enclosure that had served us well for the past month, and as the helicopter hovered over -

"O-Out - now! Jump out and clear the way before I can land!" shouted Inumata.

And again, a wave of familiarity hit me as Nui and I jumped out of the helicopter, dropping like soaring meteors.

* * *

Fortunately, Ragyo's goons were just as much a fan of shooting stars as Kyoto's students.

The twenty-thousand pound leviathan affixed them to the dirt and broke their uniforms in a cloud of fabric, and though my pain was already coating my arms, the protective spirit lit anew like a demonic force untethered as I shot to my feet. The mob had surrounded Nui and I, and as twin figures at each other's backs we fought in the deadliest ground yet. Swords and Life Fiber strands shattered open as my gauntlets thrashed, my shoulders slamming and tackling a score of enemies as my left gauntlet surged in a flurry of movement. A dozen foes were felled by their own blade slicing their own uniforms in half, and in a whirlwind of dual strikes I felt Nui carving a road just as bloodied to the entrance of the bunker.

My strength was quickly returning to me underneath adrenaline-crazed vision, the conditioning Gamagoori and I had trained in the last month serving me well in the exhaustion that clung to my face that was not showing in my movements. Their uniforms cracked and exploded under haymakers like a horrific earthquake, the leviathan before them proving to be far more durable than they had expected.

"Ooo, Outcasty! You're too kind to these vermin, you know!" shouted Nui at my back.

If I were a tsunami, she was a tornado, a sprinkler of Life Fibers and crimson that pirouetted about like a red, light and dark nightmare. Anguished screams pierced the air behind me, in timing with the cackling of the couturier, yet I could only hear the aftereffects of her handiwork and was not yet privy to the sight.

More than eager to see the spectacle in action, I turned, ripped an opponent by his neck and threw him to her -

\- and her blades sliced his entire body in half.

The scene she had been weaving behind me was one of utter, horrific madness. Intestines spooled like yarn underneath so sudden a vivisection, her heels coated with shattered bones and organs bubbling like a fetid cauldron, masses of fat and skin where she had scalped her prey.

I realized why they had been screaming so horrifically, and why her blades were so soaked in blood.

"Ooo! That's more like it, Outcasty! See?"

Too quickly for the sight to follow, another decapitated head lay at her feet. Torn organs like a mountain of refuse were pooling underneath her heels. Discarded chunks of bone where she had carved out their spines lay limply out of their backs, gashes coated in blood and pus. The slaughtered men lay in a red heap, gazing blankly, torn, gashed, mangled.

I grew sick as I watched and quickly turned my vision away, occupying myself in shattering but nonlethal blows with the last of the soldiers blocking the entrance. Yet in despite of the horrific performance Nui were putting on behind me, it was clear she was gaining the advantage. The soldiers were beating a hasty retreat and running like terrified animals, screaming like children, their ranks shattered, rend both metaphorically and literally.

They had never seen a foe so terrifyingly unchained, the childish sight a nightmare brought to life as she butchered another dozen.

"Ooo! Outcasty, you do realize Ryuko-ko will die if we're not quick enough, ri-"

\- my gauntlets shot clear through one soldier's chest - his still-beating heart exploded in a cloud of blood as I crushed it between my grasp, and for all their decorum prior, the soldiers still blocking our path were truly terrified; they ran like wild dogs, and we smashed through like freight trains and repeated the same genocide at the front entrance inside. Geysers of blood from limp corpses soaked our vision; their shrieks echoed like instruments tuned sharp, butchering presences in human and barely human form slashing and slaying in a holocaust of madness.

At my back, I heard Inumata's helicopter land. A moment later the doors shot open, and I was among him with a rush. He clung like a terrified animal to my back, and though he was horrified at the sheer amount of lives Nui and I had taken, he, too, could not dispute the efficacy of the tactic.

The three of us rushed down corridors filled with soldiers much like the previous; anguish coated in last screams pierced through the truly doomed bunker, my gauntlets smashing true bones open and Nui's blades leaving a red path of skulls like breadcrumbs behind us. Bootsteps and heelsteps smashed carcasses underneath as we ran, Inumata at our back barking fevered directions as his cheeks tinted green. From the adjacent corridors streamed straggling men, who as they caught sight of the lethality of the melee, ran ragged, screaming as they fled. Heroic fantasies always melted in the face of reality.

"It's the greatest power of all, you know! The power to murder!" shouted Nui as she sliced open one's jugular. "See? Look at how many are running away, now! Are you scaaaaared?"

"P-Please - right here, a right here!" shouted Inumata, and we entered the final dead-end corridor. At the end and to the right, there laid a steel door. There were no soldiers nearby, and I kept by Inumata's side as Nui kept watch behind.

And as quickly as it had started, my serial killing had ended. I was panting like a feral dog, the true bloodlust and true ferocity of the battle leaving me completely, truly, and finally exhausted. I knew not how many men I had ripped from their mortal coil, how many families I might have left fatherless.

True to my earliest exposition, I was as protective of Ryuko as Satsuki were. I dared not guess how many more I might have murdered if it meant keeping her safe.

Quickly, Inumata gestured for me to enter the examination chamber. A familiar set of computer monitors laid at the opposite wall, on his desk and as prim and proper as he had left it. He rushed over to the drawer within, a heavy cry of relief passing his lips, tears dripping down his features like the crimson from mine.

"O-Oh - please, please…" he sobbed, his fingers quivering as he pulled open the drawer.

And from the joy that crossed his face, I surmised he had found for what he had been searching. Carefully, as if it were a precious artifact, he clutched a single paper bag to his chest.

"Oooo! I wonder how your eyeballs will taste going down your throat! Tell me how it tastes, okaaaay?!" shouted that demonic couturier from behind me, still killing - or torturing - the last remnants of Ragyo's soldiers. "Ooo! A new outfit, made of skin!"

I kept my vision sharp on Inumata, silently hoping I would not have to turn my gaze to the horrific shrieks behind me, the rending of bone and flesh the couturier were cutting like a newest design.

"Ooooh! Outcasty, watch this one! I'm going to see how long his intestines can stretch!" In her voice was maddened euphoria. A feral beast in human form had joined us for our journey. Outcast had finally met a creature more demonic than it. "Riiiiiip - and tear!"

Another geyser of blood sprayed my back. I was silently glad I could only barely hear the screams and howls with which that doomed corridor must be ringing.

"We - we can leave now." gagged Inumata. "Protect this cargo with your life - i-if it breaks, all of us will be dead within the week."

"Ooo, a good block! Do you know what the problem is with working for Ragyo?"

Without waiting for a response -

"She doesn't teach you to dodge a stab wound! Now you're really wearing your heart on your sleeve!"

'… Nui?' I shouted back to her over my shoulder. 'Please keep watch for Inumata. He needs to keep his eyes closed so he won't faint.'

* * *

He was far calmer once we returned to the helicopter, still clutching his paper bag as if it were the most valuable treasure in the world. The helicopter ascended, and we were off.

"…a-alright." he murmured, tracing his fingers along the console. "F-Fortunately, the others say they are safe, for the moment. We'll be meeting with them within thirty minutes."

"Your friends are going to take all my snacks, aren't they?" Nui shook her head ruefully, wringing blood out of her hair with a free hand. "Awful!"

'…I presume we're, ah…' I gestured vaguely to the impish couturier. The tsunami of revelations was set to tear me open; my movements were so sluggish under heavy exhaustion it was a wonder I could move at all.

Inumata turned to me, the last remnants of his tears making their way down. Deep marks of pessimism cracked across his face, and holding his hand out to me to bid me pause for a moment, he breathed deeply for a minute.

"…yes. We're - going to Nui's house. I do not know how long we will be able to stay there, as it is a certainty Ragyo will realize Rei is dead soon enough."

"She didn't even ask me to go to the bunker!"

'Start - from the beginning. Please.'

He closed his eyes and nodded.

"… It's only been one hour since your fight with Rei and - Lady Satsuki. Our intrepid couturier here decapitated the former, and the latter has… I - I believe she has fallen in to a coma."

'W-What?'

"You should've told me she already had the bug in her! That's serious contraband shit, Inumata-chan!"

He was trying his best to ignore every word.

"When the connection to her spine was severed - or rather, Rei died - it appears… I'm not certain. I - I do not know if she will ever wake again. She has a pulse, a fading, weak pulse, but she does not respond to anything. O-Once we have returned, if - if it works, we shall see to securing better medical treatment for her. The chain of command falls to Lady Ryuko, here."

His eyes opened. "Is there anything else you wish to know, before I proceed to the next item?"

'I… no. Keep going.' I muttered, barely believing it myself.

"…the second, and, as you might have guessed. Absolute Submission destroyed our uniforms. Again, when Rei died, I suppose the connection may have been severed in a similar way. It was a wonder we did not die along with them."

"All that fashion..." said Nui, shaking her head in sorrow. "And you even went through all the trouble of making a fraudulent uniform for Outcasty!"

My eyes widened. 'Wait - you -'

"- she did not know until I told her why I was bringing you. It appears our ruse worked, after all." he smirked, more than happy to find a single ray of light.

"And that's why you didn't want me to improve it! What a mean man!"

"After you fell unconscious, Nonon set to stitching your wounds as best as she could, though, as you might have guessed…"

'…right.' I muttered. 'Without her orchestra, it's going to take me far longer to recover.'

"…r-right. I - do not wish to stress you further, but…" He shook his head. "… I should not give romantic advice, but tonight, I would advise holding Lady Ryuko very closely. I've never seen her so terrified. W-We all thought both you and Satsuki were dead, and our uniforms were gone - a-and, you may not understand how important our uniforms are, given that -"

I held my hand out to comfort him. 'It would be like Outcast disappearing from me with no warning. I understand. Ryuko's safe, then?'

"For the time being. We'll need to move quickly, once we're back."

'… And, I have to ask - why is Nui here?'

"Ooo! Let me explain that one, Inumata-mata!"

More than willing to give up the reins, he leaned back in his chair and sighed. "It would be best to hear it from Nui herself."

"When Ragyo told Rei she was going to kill every one of you except Sat-Sat-Satsuki, I was so mad I could hardly contain myself! Especially after Tri-City Raids! What a cheap tactic!"

Her voice was the sound of birds being burned alive in a shoebox.

"And when I learned she robbed me from the crib! What a brute!"

'She - what?'

"Ooo! It was a year ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. Ragyo had always told me my parents were killed by Nudist Beach terrorists - what a nasty group!"

'I - suppose.'

It was all sounding bizarrely familiar.

"And I wanted to get revenge on those nasty men who killed my parents!"

'I - suppose.'

It might have been preferable if I had died.

"And eventually, when I was walking through the factories and sewing new, wonderful outfits, I saw a man attempting to poison the Life Fiber supply! What an evil, horrific thing to do! Right?"

'I - suppose.'

"He was so talkative once he was being tortured, though! Ragyo let me do it myself, all by myself for my birthday! Imagine - a thirteen year old girl, torturing a fully grown man."

'… I - suppose - wait. Nui - how - old are you, exactly?'

"Fourteen!"

'…r-right.'

She cocked her head, one eye staring in to me like a surreal painting. "Did you expect me to be eighteen or older?"

She threw up her hands. "Oh well! But for some reason, he kept saying Nudist Beach did not kill my parents! He would admit to everything but that! Isn't that weiiiiiird?"

'I - suppose.'

"But I wanted to find more! He squealed like a studded pig!"

"The expression is - never mind." muttered Inumata.

"And so, in private, I met with someone from Nudist Beach myself! Aren't you jealous?"

'I - suppose - Inumata, can you, ah…' I gestured vaguely to the imp. Catching the trend of the conversation that would take years to finish, Inumata nodded.

"Nui met with a Nudist Beach operative, and in exchange for the information she provides to them, over the past year, they are - ah, hesitantly, and still cautiously - willing to investigate further in to her parents' deaths. She trusts that they are not lying to her when they say they were not responsible."

"Awww! Why did you have to spoil everything, Inumata-mata?"

"Simply the essence of time." He shook his head. "Regardless, what they have found has come at a glacial pace. I presume they are purposely dripping the information as slowly as possible to, ah, squeeze as much as they can out of Nui, so to speak."

"What a mean group!" She shook her head. "Oh well."

'Have they found anything, then?'

"As Nui said, it was clear she was, ah, robbed from the crib, and her parents' deaths came barely a day after she was born. The cause of death - a man came to their home, hacked them both to bits, and the papers never mentioned a baby found at the scene. She was raised by Ragyo's servants until she was ten."

'What made you think it wasn't Nudist Beach, then?'

"Don't be silly, Outcasty! How could someone without Life Fibers ever stand up to someone with them? My parents were couturiers, too!"

'… I, ah…' I muttered, my left gauntlet flashing in and out of existence.

"… That's different! That's because you're weird!"

'I - suppose - wait.'

A bizarre expression crossed my face, a mix of contemplation with the intelligence of a walnut.

'… Why is your uniform not destroyed?'

"Absolute Submission doesn't affect REVOCS high-rank employees!" preened Nui, spinning in place as she stood. The frills smacked against my face every second. "But the distinction is genetic, not uniform-based! The rest of you are shit out of luck!"

'Not me.'

"Thank god for that." muttered Inumata. "It was why I did not bother asking the club presidents for help on this - there's no telling what uniforms do and do not have Absolute Submission. Fortunately, we were able to escape through the roof with no unwanted spectators, and as soon as we touched down at Nui's house, I realized immediately that we needed to return to the bunker."

"He didn't even tell me what it was for, you know! He was such a basket case!" In a bizarrely perfect imitation of Inumata's voice, she spoke. "Nui - Nui - p-please, I need - we must go to the Elite Five's bunker at once, please!"

"The rest still do not know why it was so urgent."

'Neither do I. What did you even -'

"- Arriving in - five minutes."

I shot to my feet. Through the windows of the fuselage, I saw that we were rapidly descending in to the luxury district, the ivory-tipped towers and mansions that had seemed so welcoming a month ago now as horrific as any slum. It was an expanse dozens of miles across and dozens of miles long, and though we could not stay for long, there was no choice left but to dive directly in to the belly of the beast.

In the distance, a pink speck grew on the horizon, what I presumed to be Nui's house. It was far more modest than I had imagined. There was an easily surmountable barrier negotiating around the perimeter, a painful lack of any fountains or statues exulting the supremacy of fashion, and there were two floors. The walls were painted in smears of pink, sticking out like a garish beacon, and as the helicopter began to descend, Inumata was negotiating with the beast like a summoner, attempting to wedge it on to a painfully small and untrimmed backyard.

"Isn't it beautiful?" preened Nui, running her scissor blades through her hair. "It looks even better on the inside!"

'… Right.' I murmured, just as terrified to see these innards as I had with the soldiers'.

* * *

To my surprise, her home was far more lavish on the inside. The silver walls passed by as we walked through the back entrance, a thin hall that gave way to the main lobby. Marble columns stood in rows and twin staircases lined the west and eastern ends.

"It's us!" shouted Inumata, his voice echoing as if he were in a cavern.

There was no response.

Gesturing for Nui to take the lead of the west stairs and myself at the rear, I took in the sights far more than was proper. We came up to a red carpet the shade of the foes we had defeated earlier, and at the hall adjacent opened a series of chambers. These were illumined by lightbulbs covered in stained glass, giving the atmosphere a distinctly rainbow, and unfortunately familiar quality.

Nui came to one of the doors at the farthest end of the wing. With a fingering of her hair, she tried the knob, and found it locked.

"Ooo… Why did they even bother locking it?" she said, shaking her head. "Anyone with a sword could cut this down! Just like this-"

'Ryuko?' I shouted, and from within the chamber I heard a stifled gasp of excitement. Within moments the door was unlocked and opened -

\- and she was there. My Ryuko, tears of happiness streaming down her face - I swept her in my arms, and she was there. Her fingers and legs clung tightly to me.

"You're back! G-Good." she chimed as Inumata and Nui made their way in to the room.

'As if I could ever not come back, with someone like you waiting.' I grinned, and we made our way inside.

Here, a bedroom nearly as cramped as the helicopter. The remaining three's eyes lit up as they saw us, and it was clear they had undergone just as much stress as the three of us. They were dressed in spare clothes, drab white and grey that was a far cry from their former accommodations, and wore heavy faces. As they made their way over, Inumata held his hand out-

"Wait - wait! It's fragile! Please be very, very careful!" he said, gesturing to the paper bag.

"Will it - it'll work, right?" said Gamagoori, his gaze barely leaving the sight at the other end of the bedroom. His body obscured it, and he strode to one end as if he were a drawn curtain revealing the figure beyond.

Upon the bed, a purple blanket draped over her, Satsuki. Her breathing was shallow panting of restless slumber, her eyes completely open. It had a distinctly unreal quality, as if she were merely pretending to be in a coma, yet from the worry clinging to the four's faces as they looked to our sleeping leader, I knew it was terribly real.

"I-It should, yes." Inumata said. He turned to Ryuko and I. "I - I hate to cut your reunion short, but - Outcast, can you stand guard alongside Nui at the corridor?"

'O-Of course.' I muttered, slightly flustered at the sudden departure. Quickly, as if it might have been my last, I shared a deep kiss with Ryuko.

"Jeez. I hope you have a separate bedroom for these two lovebirds." grinned Nonon.

"Ooo! A girlfriend and boyfriend! You two must be too cute!" preened Nui. "Not only are you trying to kill Ragyo, but you're giving her daughter free rides on the Outcasty express! Choo, choo!"

And before I could respond, she was gone. She shot out the door like her first escape attempt, and never one to be outdone, I ran after her just I had before, again, utterly incredulous at the repetition.

The girlfriend's smile made all the killing worth it, after all.

* * *

It was nearly an hour before we heard from the rest again. Nui and I were stood at opposite walls in the corridor, and I had grown so bored that I had made conversation with the imp-turned-ally.

As I had learned, her favorite color was pink, she still believed my tripping her was an accident, her favorite color was pink, she had always wanted to sew with Ryuko, and her favorite color was pink. I began to wonder if her deficiencies were not only in sight.

She had never liked Rei, and she was even bloodthirstier than Satsuki to solve the mystery of her dead parents.

And she had always wanted to sew with Ryuko. I leaned back against the wall and sat with a deep sigh. I was more babysitter than leviathan.

'… Why did you bother -'

\- the door behind us opened. I shot to my feet, not knowing if it portended a miracle or an invader, and I breathed a heavy sigh of relief to see the full confidence of the five standing outside of the chamber once more. Far from the depression that had shrouded their faces just an hour earlier, their grins were eager, and Inumata, the most pleased of all.

"Outcast," he said, drumming his fingers along his neck. "For the full power of your armor, is it…" Just as quickly, he shook his head. "How do you summon Outcast?"

'I - what?'

I was as perplexed as when Ryuko had first explained Life Fibers to me. The five's eyes were so tightly focused on me it was as if I was the brightest star, and they were all eager to blind themselves. Every eye - all eleven of them - were trained on the leviathan.

'… I - just summon it. It's like using Life Fibers for you five.'

"You've gotta give us more detailed instructions than that!" protested Nonon, bouncing in place. She was as hyperactive as the cyclops.

"Is this going to kill us?" muttered Sanageyama.

Sensing there would be no escape from this line of questioning, I sighed and pinched my temples. So naturally had Outcast's form come to me in the past years, the question struck me as if I were being asked how to breathe.

'… Right. I - instantly picture it in my mind. There's a feeling of might that comes about when it's unsheathed. The obsidian skin is my own - the gauntlets are my hands, the bull's skull is my skull. I'm wearing it as a second skin.'

The five nodded. Sanageyama's eyes closed, suddenly pensive.

"Poetic. It is the transformation from man, to leviathan."

His eyes shot open. "I can see it! Kiwami - Overdrive!"

Before my eyes, he underwent a wild transformation - his eyes gleamed with their old fire, and his lips laughed soundlessly as his former samurai garb appeared over him in an instant. At his back laid his former masterwork as if it had never been destroyed at all, the marks of use upon the hilt where his fingers gripped, and as he turned his back to me, a new addition was presented.

Upon the back, a gleaming white cloak with a red sun streaking across it, a true nationalistic display in every sense of the word.

The four erupted in to laughter, and Inumata was cackling like a true mad scientist. His eyes darted between me and the newest ability, tears of laughter and happiness streaming down his face. The laughter was expelling every worry and fear out of his mind, and seeing the scientist drug out of the zenith of despair, I couldn't help but grin as wide as he.

'You - you didn't!' I laughed, knowing fully well he did.

"Incredible, incredible, incredible." said Inumata over the uproarious display, "What incredible luck that injection did not kill you instantly. Directly in to the tip of your spine, and past the blood-brain barrier."

Sanageyama looked ready to burst in to tears. "The - the strength of a grizzly, the speed of a panther - it's all come back to me. It fits even better than a uniform." His eyes widened in amazement as he looked to me. "Is this - is this - I've done it correctly, right, leviathan?"

'Looks like it.' I shook my head, still in shock at the tenacity of the mad scientist.

"Fortunately, our intrepid nationalist volunteered to be the first." Inumata shook his head. "The attunement will be higher than any uniform, though there shall be, I presume, a period of adjustment from vampiric to psychic. The induced pluripotent stem cells should uptake to your natural brain patterns quite nicely. A simple combination of the samples I took from our leviathan's neurons, the battle data over the years, Yamanaka factors -"

" - skip this shit, I want to try next!" shouted Nonon, and to there eleven eyes turned. "… Uh. Does it need a name?"

There was a certain pleasure in seeing the taunting conductor flustered.

'It - I don't believe it does, but it wouldn't hurt. Something to trigger the association in your mind.' I said, fully confident.

I had no clue what I was talking about. It felt as if I were a shaman teaching my tribe how to ward off ill spirits for the coming season, and I was every bit as confident in the veracity of my methods.

And like the tribe, there was no protest. Nonon nodded, and her eyes gleamed with that same untamed spirit.

"Sovereign Symphony!"

\- and between the conductor's fingers appeared the conductor's baton, the hat flashing to existence on her hair, dotted by tears that the comforting wear was upon her once more. There was a new curve at the center of the baton.

"… Hey! Why isn't this thing straight?" she shouted, and just as quickly realized precisely why it was not. She shook her head and laughed alongside the rest.

"And now, metal!"

\- the full orchestra burst to life out of the back of her uniform, the dizzying array of horns. String drew through the mouthpiece of each and tethered them like thick chains to her back, and before we could stop her -

\- Nui shot to her feet and staggered; immense pain seared her movements, her hands shot to her ears -

"- oh shit sorry sorry!" sputtered Nonon, and the melody that sounded as heaven to us and hell to the cyclops faded. "Sorry - I - forgot I still need to retune it for every new person!"

I stifled my laughter. Offering a hand to the couturier, her single eye twitched as she stood again, and I surmised she was considering rescinding the impromptu alliance.

"N-No wonder you…won Tri-City Raids…" said Nui, shaking off the paralysis. Streams of exertion drew in thin sweat down her spindly arms. The surprise of the attack had left her as paralyzed as the dogs had been.

"I'll… retune it." muttered Nonon, sheathing her symphony.

'… Let's just - leave it as a fashion show, and not a demonstration. The ability should be as strong as the former uniforms, right?'

Inumata nodded. "I believe so. It clearly possesses a higher level of attunement, to add a personal touch like that."

'And here I thought I would be special forever.' I shook my head. 'Incredible, incredible, incredible violation of medical privacy.'

"Still my big, strong Outcast." Ryuko winked, pressing herself close against me.

"Scourge Regalia!" shouted my comradely behemoth, and as it had with the others, his uniform was upon him. The white and red still billowed around him, a scarlet mummy as the newest set shrouded his torso. Out of his back erupted a set of tentacles like a kraken set to strike, new fangs at the end, the ability as hungry as he.

"… Sheesh." he muttered, raking back his hair with a free hand. "Is that how the armor feels, leviathan?"

'How should I know? It's your ability.'

He laughed. "At least I don't have to keep it on all the time, now. Summer was always rough." he said as Scourge melted back to air.

"And now, my own. I'm quite eager to see what it will be." muttered Inumata, making an exaggerated show of strutting forward. A wide berth was cleared for him. "Desperate Hallucinations!"

\- and the clones flashed to existence at his side. The illusory phalanx rode again, his former midnight-black suit accentuating his scrawny features as well as ever. A wild glimmer shone in his eyes, as he carefully traced along the cheeks of one of the mirrors staring back.

I thought for a moment he might kiss it.

"… Incredible, incredible, incredible. It's even fixed the, ah, minor glitch in the breathing subroutines." He shook his head. "Ah - for those of you that aren't aware, there was quite an easy method to discover who the true master was, prior."

A hallucination finished his explanation. "We were set to breathe -"

"- at a constant rate!"

"But in a prolonged fight, it was quite easy to -"

" - see who the true Inumata was! He would breathe like a dog against racehorses!"

'I thought we agreed no demonstrations.'

His lips pinched and he nodded, the clones fading back.

And yet one beautiful, angelic woman had yet to show her's, and it was to there all eyes turned once the latest bout of fashion was finished.

"… Why are you staring at me like that?!" she said, then shook her head with a grin. Again, that wave of familiarity hit me. "Jeez. Ranketsu!"

\- and here, her Kamui was upon her once more, fully repaired as if it had never been shattered or shredded. My eyes searched for the same tweak that had occurred as the others, and as I looked to her shoulders, I could barely contain my smile. The left shoulder's spikes were now obsidian, the blades we had forged together weeks ago hanging from her back.

"Told you we're a perfect match." she winked.

"Oooo! What a cute couple! Do you take her out on daaaaates?"

Again, the wave of familiarity. A strong urge to decapitate Nui with her own blades struck me, yet I shrugged it off just as quickly.

"… And, as for Lady Satsuki…" murmured Inumata, the celebration abruptly coming to an end. "I - injected her with the treatment, but her condition has not improved. There was a brief flash of Junketsu's former form, but it disappeared just as quickly."

Our seven fell as silent as the unconscious body in the other room. The sound of her breath came as stifled gasps.

"… Right." Ryuko murmured, far less of a drill sergeant than her sister. "We need to get her better medical attention, but… Nonon, do you think your melodies will still work with her?"

Nonon nodded, her lower lip quivering. "Y-Yeah. It should still react with her, but… If something about Absolute Submission changed her frequency, I won't be able to tell without possibly hurting her."

'You said you gave her the treatment, Inumata? If she has the ability, it should form in response to any outside damage, to keep her safe, even while unconscious.'

Ryuko nodded. "Yeah. Just - something to help stabilize her. We won't be able to take her in to any hospitals - Ragyo'll be hunting down every last one of us. We're not vulnerable to Absolute Submission anymore, at least."

"And you're still as fashionable as ever! Good!" preened Nui, spinning in that awkward circle again. "Too bad I didn't put in my two weeks!"

The six of us ignored the spastic child, who I now knew to be literal.

"Gamagoori, keep watch over Satsuki. We might need to flee at a moment's notice - I want both of you downstairs, just in case. Can you use your tendrils to carry her?"

"Yes, Lady Ryuko."

'I'll - keep watch over her, too -'

\- Ryuko shook her head. "No, you're not, boyfriend. You've been fighting all day - you need to get your rest, before dinner."

She turned to me with a fire in her eyes and a grin. For all the sorrow the day had wrought, she was more than willing to find a single beacon of humor. "Or else I'm going to make you pledge to me in front of everyone. Got that?"

'… Yes, Lady Ryuko.' I murmured, my own stubbornness being turned back on me like a whip.

I would never admit how grateful I was.

* * *

It was a wonder any of Nui's guest beds could fit me. They were made for dwarfish men and women, doors and ceilings adjusted for the devilish child, and throughout the afternoon I had tossed and turned, tottering between physical agony and dreams of emotional.

My eyes shot open after one of these nightmares. I was silently grateful I had always had poor dream recall. All I remembered was a cold sweat, and a pale memory of a dead Ryuko.

I shook it out of my mind without a second thought, and closed my eyes again, attempting to descend to a more peaceful slumber. The guest room was cramped accommodations, pink walls, a blue stream of light peeking in from underneath the door.

Suddenly, a shadow blocked that blue streak, and a second appeared alongside it.

Knowing it to be a knock, for the hall below was silent outside of low murmurs, I tapped my knuckles along the wall at my left as if to answer the unspoken request. The door opened and shut just as quickly, and in strode Nonon and Ryuko. So dark was the room I could barely see them, but from a silhouette I made out a large tray Ryuko was carrying.

'Everything alright?' I said as I sat up, my head nearly cracking open against the low ceiling.

"Yeah." said Ryuko, sitting down next to me as she laid the tray on my thighs. I noted that Nonon held two of her own, comically small to my comically large. She handed one of these to Ryuko, and once more, adult, infant, fetus.

Upon these trays lay utensils and a bowl taking up the entirety of the piece. In it, deep-fried tofu, garlic, soy sauce, mirin, potatoes, carrots, leeks, cabbage, mushrooms, burdock root, grilled tofu, chicken thighs, chrysanthemum greens, ribeye, and udon noodles swimming in chicken broth. An absurdly filling dish.

"Gamagoori thought you'd like this." Nonon shook her head as she dug in to her own portion. "Uh - chankonabe, or whatever? Sumo wrestlers eat it. Guess it's pretty filling."

"Yeah." grinned Ryuko, prodding me to start my meal as she took the first bites of her own. "I already talked to everybody else about what our plans are, but I didn't want to make you come down after such a long day. I asked Nonon to play a melody for you once we're done eating."

'You're already giving me special treatment,' I grinned as we ate. 'Are you sure about that, Lady Ryuko?'

We shared a laugh.

"Jeez." Ryuko shook her head and grinned, enjoying the name more than she was letting on. "If you're not careful, I'm going to make you keep calling me that even after this is all over."

"At least you can be public about your relationship, now," said Nonon with her traditional taunt. "They still haven't said shit about us on the news, though. Just stuff about Tri-City Raids, Honnōji winning, all the good shit."

'At least we'll look good in the combat footage. What's going to happen without us there?'

"They'll find a way." Ryuko muttered. "They'll probably say we went missing, died in a helicopter crash, something like that. Club presidents will start fighting like vultures for the next student body presidency. Everybody's attention span lasts as long as a single news cycle."

"I'm a club president too, you know…" murmured Nonon ruefully, shaking her head. "At least we've got the uniforms back, now. I wish I could send a message out to Music Club and tell them I'm safe, or some shit like that, but it'll just put a target on their backs."

'Or my protégé.' I said with a hint of nostalgia. 'Has Inumata figured out anything more on what Absolute Submission even is?'

"Not much. Just some way to control Life Fibers. I guess it's meant to be a failsafe, but… I don't know." Ryuko shook her head. "All we can do is keep our eyes on Ragyo. She's not going to let up until all of us are dead."

'…right.' I murmured, tracing my left hand along Ryuko's back. She laid her head on my shoulder and sighed.

"If you guys start kissing, I'm leaving." protested Nonon, her portion almost gone.

"Maybe we will." grinned Ryuko. "Still, there was one thing I found weird. Why would Rei only be going for Satsuki?"

'What do you mean?'

"If she had Absolute Submission up like that… I mean, I guess Satsuki is the strongest out of us, but… And the way Rei looked at me too." She closed her eyes, her breath like fire out of her nostrils. "… And even what Ragyo did to me. She did it to me - not Satsuki."

"Maybe she...thinks Lady Satsuki's the bigger threat?" Nonon murmured, her fingers twisting themselves in to pretzels.

Ryuko nodded. "Yeah. That's what I'm thinking, too, but… And why would severing a connection like that make her go in to a coma?" She shook her head. "When we get her somewhere safer, I want to test something."

'You sound like you have a location planned.'

She nodded. "I do. The bunker's not the safest spot, but it'll be easier to defend than Nui's house, when they find us."

"I can't wait to say my uniform's not made of Life Fibers." Nonon grinned. "No wonder you sounded so pleased when you said it."

'It's a habit,' I said as I scooped another mountainous habit in to my mouth.

"That, and…" Ryuko nodded a few times to herself. "Yeah. We're going to meet with Nui's contact in Nudist Beach, later tonight, too. We'll meet them at the bunker."

'She's coming with us, then?'

"I mean, you two did save our lives, and she got rid of Rei's body for us. Uh - what was left of it." Nonon muttered. "Ragyo'll kill her once she finds out she's been hiding us, too."

'…yeah.' I muttered. 'Can't leave a fourteen year old girl to die.'

"Wait, what?" Ryuko cocked her head. "Nui's only fourteen?"

"That's weird." muttered Nonon. "I thought she'd be eighteen or older. Like all of us."

"And especially me." nodded Ryuko. "I'm definitely able to consent to sexual acts and aware of the consequences of my actions."

I had no clue what they were talking about. Nonon shrugged her shoulders.

Dropping her voice to a low whisper, "I don't think Ragyo likes her much, either. Nui got a call from her, but it was just some prerecorded shit telling her and the board of directors to be on the lookout."

'She doesn't know why Rei attacked us?'

Nonon shook her head. "It doesn't look like it, I guess. She just knows Ragyo ordered Rei to bring back Satsuki and 'do what you want with the rest'. She wasn't even invited to the meeting about it."

"Ragyo's not the only one out to kill us. Everyone on the board of directors'll be hunting for us." Ryuko shook her head as if she could barely believe it herself. "I didn't even realize how - far that goes, you know? Satsuki and I just… We've met the board of directors in-person, before, but we figured they would just obey us once we killed Ragyo."

'They see nothing but dollar signs.' I jested, and the two women laughed.

"Exactly, right? They just spend all their time in the luxury district, or REVOCS headquarters. They don't give a shit what happens so long as the company's doing good. But if they're hiding shit from Nui, too, and this stuff with Satsuki… Ugh." She shook her head again. "There's something way deeper going on. I don't think any of us were supposed to know about this."

'… Do you think Nudist Beach will have any answers for us?'

"Maybe. They might just be insane terrorists, too." said Nonon. "I guess we don't have a choice, now..."

"…yeah. They've gotta have somewhere safer, at least. I bet they'll do anything if you let them research you, boyfriend."

'Always the world-savior,' I said as another wave of familiarity struck me, the last udon noodle disappearing down my gullet. Nonon shot to her feet as if she were at attention, a wild grin across her face as her flute appeared seemingly by magic between her fingers.

"That shit is so neat, man. Uh - I'll try some shit to heal your wounds a bit better, 'cause I was so busy with Lady Satsuki I forgot I didn't stitch you up that good."

'Thank you, Nonon.' I muttered, closing my eyes and leaning my head back against the wall as she began her melody.

I felt Ryuko's head against my chest, warm breathing as comforting as a summer breeze, a duality of pleasure both audible and physical melding in my mind like swell on an ocean wave. The conductor was pitch-perfect, and the former power of her uniform carried the gentle movement of her fingers across the airstream. The wounds at my chest closed tighter and with more durability than the stitches prior. Natural, practiced movements of her fingertips against the holes of the unnatural metal fluttered in timing with the song, highs and lows ebbing to allow the healing time to adjust.

And just as quickly as it had started, a shriek rung out from the lower floor. My feet moved before my mind alongside Ryuko and our intrepid conductor, and Nui's voice cracked like lightning below.

"Oooo! Bad shit is coming! You better come down!"

\- like a gust of wind we ran across the bedroom, down to the tops of the staircases at the main lobby. The sudden interruption of the melody left a cloud on my movements, my limbs even heavier than before. Ryuko caught my sluggish patterns out of the corner of her eyes, though I waved it off with a sigh and a grunt as our three abilities formed over us.

Below, stood Inumata, Sanageyama, Gamagoori with Satsuki caught like a cage of claws in his back tendrils, and at the front door, Nui.

She was spinning in that circle again.

"Lady Ryuko!" shouted Inumata as we caught wind down the stairs, rapidly gesturing to the back entrance. "Ragyo is -"

" - right here, darlings!"

\- the front set of double doors shattered open like glass. In the debris and in a cloud of smoke strode one ghoulish figure, skeletal fingers cradling around the literal rainbow of her hair, throwing her head up in an cacophony of laughter. We caught ourselves and stopped next to the rest, Inumata and the other two men watching the back entrance, waiting for the rest of the enemy to appear.

I trained my vision firmly at the front and stood with what strength I could still manage, and from within the cloud of smoke appeared seven shadowed silhouettes. They were feminine, wearing white suits, their faces shrouded in red masks. It was a different breed than the soldiers Nui and I so effortlessly slew.

"Ooo! My newest line of outfits!" said Nui, barely understanding the weight of the situation. "These are masterpieces, all! Maybe even stronger than your's!"

"Nui, Nui…" said Ragyo, shaking her head ruefully. "What is my lovely couturier doing with such criminals?"

Ryuko looked ready to erupt. Fortunately, her Kamui could no longer smell blood in the water. Her mother did not even look at her, her eyes on the cargo at Gamagoori's back and swapping between her and the couturier.

"Why, I thought it was odd that Rei was never found in Student Council's office! The men swore, as plain as day, they saw Nui in that bunker! How could any uniform stand against Absolute Submission, unless they were given the exception against it?" She shook her head, ghoulish laughter quivering her skeletal figure. "But you've given quite an easy story, Nui! After Tri-City Raids, the lesser daughter, Ryuko, ruthlessly slew my assistant, and Satsuki foiled this terrible plot to assassinate me!"

"I-I'll wring your fucking corpse like a dish rag." grunted Ryuko, her fingers curled so tightly around the hilt of her blades even the obsidian might shatter.

"And with what uniform, Ryuko? I see that Nui has woven you a pale imitation of your last, but even you're not idiotic enough to think I would believe it's an actual Kamui." Her arms craned across her women's necks, the Life Fibers of their outfits responding like a magnetized force to the touch of her nails. The chamber was filled with that horrific rainbow light. "As I told you, six years ago, I cannot have a daughter that will not obey. It was why Satsuki was always far preferable to you."

Boiling rage filled my veins. Boyfriend and girlfriend, volcanic. I feared - and was hopeful - Outcast would overcome my senses and snap the bitch's neck open. The entire chamber would be painted red. In synchronized step, the seven figures strode, robotic, to regard their seven opponents.

"And as for you, Nui." Ragyo shook her head ruefully as the figures drew their blades from their backs as if pulling swords from a portal. "My own couturier - the mangled mongrel, now aligned with the hateful traitors of Honnōji. Fifty billion yen, all struck down the drain!"

"Fifty billion yen! That's nearly five hundred million dollars!" preened Nui. The child was as oblivious as ever.

"And now, Ryuko, and your lovely Elite Five, as undressed messes! It's quite obvious these could not be your former uniforms, and without the glory of Life Fibers, you are dead living! The rest of you will die along with the rest, and I shall take my favorite daughter back to -"

\- too quickly for the sight to follow, Ryuko shot like a meteor to the woman, and before any could move a single step, a hailstorm of obsidian bullets carved deep holes in Ragyo's face -

"Ranketsu is not made of Life Fibers."

\- and so the scene erupted in to a cacophony of strikes, a foe rushing at me like a white nightmare from across the chamber. At my side Nonon beat a hasty retreat to the back end, and at my other Nui and I were twin, dueling figures again, as violent as ever against our hated opponents, the white and shrouded vermin we now fought.

In a whirlwind of blows and obsidian rage I sought to rip her heart straight from her chest, where that hated monstrosity must lay, taunting me and begging me to pilfer it straight from its flesh-laden cradle. I had never felt such a horrific anger threatening to consume me in the mangled hooks I threw, and the demoralized confusion in to which the eight foes had been thrown in to sufficed to gain my sluggish movements the advantage - a snap of her neck, and her head lolled from a broken spine, and in the next instant another challenger clashed against me.

I ripped her by her neck and threw her to the wall, and the next instant we were rushing at each other again. Fervently, and in death ground, we fought, lacerations of her sword carving open older wounds underneath the obsidian skin.

Yet in spite the handicap of the surprised resistance, the second foe proved far stronger and swifter, and my movements were slower by the second. The exhaustion carried in to my thrashing blows, her sword catching and shaving obsidian chips as she slashed murderously my chest.

And within the cacophonous and bloodied chamber, the others were faring little better. Inexperienced with the ability they were, their movements were as sluggish and ragged as I; six holograms fell beneath the blade in an instant, the orchestra was un-tuned.

The only combatant who could offer up resistance was the demonic couturier, and she could not fight all of our duels for us. We were fighting like animals nearing extinction, but if we could not retreat or they could not regain their former experience soon, they would finish us off as easily as if we were truly undressed messes after all.

Blood soaked my vision, and obsidian chips scarred my cheeks, my breath coming as pained gasps. I saw Ryuko at the opposite end of the chamber. Ragyo's nails, grown like mangled claws, were rapidly raking her armor, and no matter how confident Ryuko fought before, I knew, too, that the former swiftness and strength had not yet returned. In a storm of gray tatters and scarlet rage they circled in a tornado of strikes around the entrance, and in the moments I hesitated watching, my foe's blade sliced open my chest much the same.

"Ahahaha! I have no inkling how you've reached immunity to Absolute Submission, Ryuko, but it matters not!" that ghoulish cackle creaked. She ripped Ryuko by her neck; her nails pierced clear through her chest like a horrible stalk, and with another series of laughter she threw Ryuko to the adjacent wall.

I rushed like a demon untethered, smashed like the destroyed freight train I was, and a swarm of three insects came upon me, everywhere and nowhere. Their dripping blades spattered crimson, fiercely negotiating and attempting to penetrate to the organs of the leviathan, my vision a red haze as redder wounds formed.

The last vestiges of my energy was carrying through, obsidian nightmare crashing - in sluggish blows, slower strikes, I was fighting as if it was my own life depending on it.

If I had worn a Kamui, there was no amount of attunement that would stop the demon from swallowing me whole.

An other worldly presence guided my every movement, desperate rage coating my armor just as much as -

\- the hands of the armor dug deeply in to its own skull, and pulled out with growing claws a familiar figure. Its empty and bloodied eyes gleamed with demonic fire; its lipless face laughed soundlessly, and all gathered were thrown in to shock and demoralized confusion at the sudden eruption -

\- and too quickly for the sight to follow, a great maw opened from its featureless neck. Teeth and fangs chattered together in an infinite spiral as if drilling through the skull; it shattered like glass and made way for a protruding jawless nightmare, covered in blackened circles like tubules set to burst. Thick skeletal claws burst from the arms as mangled hands grew, dark spikes tinted with a thicker liquid erupting from its back, and as it grew to its full monstrous form, it scooped its former occupant in a lacerating grip.

It snapped its teeth around his entire body and swallowed whole; it shoved down the length of his height, and before any gathered could move more than an inch, it had forced every last of the man down the infinite spiral of chattering teeth, an obsidian and enormous terror that now stood transformed before them.

"O-Outcast?!" shouted Inumata. The six's eyes widened with horror at the black nightmare before them.

It pounced with four legs its former foe, and the same spectacle repeated anew. Thrashing, desperate, begging, terrified, the mortal between its claws struggled; the maw snapped shut around one of the woman's arms, and geysers painted the terror's face a deeper red.

A thunderous roar erupted from the creatur, reverberating and echoing through the doomed house. The windows shattered and the chandeliers crashed like bombs of glass, the entire house thrown in to darkness outside of the rainbow light of Ragyo's hair.

And through the darkness, a nightmarish sight filled the vision of the next bodyguard. The scrape of the spinning rows of teeth around her neck was the last sound she heard in life. It was a scene of madness and horror, and the remaining guards were thrown in to terrified confusion. Their weapons wilted against the beast; it stood like a leviathan, twice or thrice its former size. Its bowed legs hurtled its enormous body along at inhuman gait, and what was before them was more nightmare than human.

"We - we need to go, now -" panted Gamagoori.

Before their eyes the feminine foes were decapitated, amputated, cannibalized in single swipes, mangled and rend like a slaughter of lambs, their skin and bones laying torn and gashed in a pile at the creature's feet. The killing floor was coated in hair and flesh, chipped skulls and degloved fat.

Their rainbow-haired foe had already retreated through the front entrance, and silently Gamagoori prayed it would delay the shaggy horror for a moment longer.

"No!" shouted Sanageyama, his eyes rapidly adjusting to the rainbow haired light, like a beacon running down deadened streets, and raised his sword to the terror. "She's there - we have to kill her, here!"

And no sooner than he had said it, did the terror turn to him.

It was like a crimson and black nightmare as it rushed across the chamber, cylindrical maw spinning like a drill, splashed in deeper red, enormous legs hurtling its inhuman body at terrifying gait. It pounced like a wolf upon Sanageyama - with a single swipe of its claws, it tore his arms clear off. Before the samurai could move -

\- a set of tendrils erupted out from behind and wrapped ferociously around Sanageyama's and Ryuko's torsos, and too quickly for the sight to follow, it yanked both to the back entrance. The behemoth ran like a feral dog, his trio of cargo bruised and bloodied as they smacked against his back.

From within the doomed house behind, the other three still conscious were fleeing the same way; from within the doomed house, at the seven's backs, the crunching of bone and spilling of blood bubbled. They heard the sound of chewing, and knew it was not of their former meals.

Then, once more, silence reigned over the house of Nui.


	7. Chapter 7 - Mice & Worms

The helicopter had never lifted so fast in its entire run of use. Within the fuselage sat the seven, so rapidly trimmed from eight. They were panting and set to burst underneath the stress of the day, and Ryuko's voice cracked like a whip as they ascended.

"Nonon - melody - Inumata - tourniquet!"

The honorable samurai was unconscious from blood loss, his eyes sank as limply as his body against the floor of the fuselage. Nonon's flute appeared in her fingers and passed a song far more quivering than the last, her eyes clenched as if she were in a horrific nightmare and pleading to wake up at any moment. So shocking had been the sudden transformation and apparent death of the leviathan, each were moving in a daze, a simulacrum of the real world with a delay to their every action.

Inumata ripped fabric kept in a compartment in the fuselage, wrapping it around the severed stumps of the armless samurai so fiercely that blood soaked his fingers and hands. He thought of the crimson terror that they were fleeing, and shuddered.

Even the couturier was silent. She was crouched in a corner and shaking like a leaf. If Outcast had finally met a creature more demonic than it, it was only to lure her in to a false sense of security for the true monstrosity to erupt forth.

And at Ryuko's left, Nonon, quivering. At Ryuko's right, Satsuki. Limp, rigid, and oblivious to all the horror that had transpired that day. For a moment, Ryuko wished she might have been so lucky.

All eyes turned to their leader. Confidence struck on Ryuko's face that was as much of a performance as Nonon's, her eyes clenched, teeth grit, blood streaming down her armor where the ghoul had impaled her. Like a hole filling with dirt, her wounds were healing underneath the soothing melody. Ryuko knew Nonon was attempting to be the strongest one in that fuselage.

"… K-Keep playing, Nonon. Inumata - we - still need to go to the bunker. Sanageyama needs better medical care."

"Y-Yes, Lady Ryuko." said Inumata, clenching back tears.

As Nonon occupied herself with the melody, the other four still conscious spoke.

"What - what was that awful creature? That's - he's not dead, is he?" panted Gamagoori, turning his vision to Inumata.

"I - I do not know. There was a set of extraneous neurons that had appeared unrelated to the ability - f-fortunately, our injections did not contain a set like these, b-but…" His eyes weighed heavily. He would cry, later, when there was time for it.

"He's - he's not dead. He can't be dead. The armor is still there." muttered Ryuko. "We - we have to assume he's still alive."

With no wishes to deny the grieving widow, they nodded.

"He - after I got hit, t-that was when it happened. He was trying to protect me. I- I think."

"…right." nodded Gamagoori, suppressing his grief. "If there's - even a single bit of him left in there, that's something. Whatever that thing is."

"…ooo…" cooed Nui, rocking in a fetal position.

"… I-If he - was trying to protect me. T-That's why he fought the ones around me, first." Ryuko shot her vision to Sanageyama. "M-Maybe he thought he was an enemy, for some reason. I don't know."

"He may kill Ragyo for us." muttered Inumata, desperately attempting to find a single ray of light in that awful day. "C-Certainly, if - it is protective of you, it would do that for you."

"…maybe it'll change back a-after. H-He never mentioned anything about that, right?"

Tearfully, Inumata shook his head. It was the most bitter denial he had ever said. "N-No. Nothing of the sort. If Ragyo did not send another set of soldiers to the bunker, the data from it will all be in my files, still. I-I shall look through them and attempt to see if I - missed anything."

"…right." murmured Ryuko, the weight of it craning her neck down. "It - y-you saw that it didn't eat him, like the others, right? It swallowed him whole."

"Swallowed him whole…" said Nui in a dazed stupor. Trauma had left the couturier a mess.

The two men nodded.

"C-Correct. It - may have merely swallowed him, to place him back within the armor, rather than feed upon him, like the others, but…" His blood grew cold as he remembered the chattering teeth. "...g-god. What a horrific sight."

Ryuko did not know what was more terrifying; the thought that the beast was not man, or that it was.

"… N-Nonon. Please keep playing until we reach the bunker. F-Find some way to stitch Sanageyama's wounds, there."

Nonon nodded, more than willing to turn her mind off in the face of her music. A death years ago had led her to it.

"… F-For now," said Ryuko, choking back the emotions that threatened to rip her heart open, "we'll stay at the bunker. We'll meet with Nudist Beach, later tonight. And if my… b-boyfriend shows up…" Tears dripped down her cheeks. If it wouldn't stress the rest further, she would cry out in anguish. "…j-just run. C-Clearly, we don't have our full s-strength back yet. I-If he's in there, h-he won't ever let it hurt me."

"He'll - l-likely attempt to kill Ragyo, regardless. Even she won't be able to stand against such a foe."

"…r-right." muttered Ryuko. "You four can handle everything, tonight, right? I - I need to be alone - a-at least until the meeting.

The four nodded, feeling as if they could not handle it, but knowing the burden weighed heaviest of all on the woman.

"…l-let's talk about something else, then."

"Fifty billion yen…" said Nui, still rocking about.

Ryuko regarded this with curiosity. The events of the past hour had left them no time to reflect on the oddity of Ragyo's statement.

"… I-It is odd, isn't it?" murmured Gamagoori, sensing the wish from every passenger to relocate the discussion. "Is that her salary at REVOCS?"

"My salary is company credit…" muttered Nui. Tear dripped down her eye. "Free food, and room…"

"... Fifty billion yen." muttered Ryuko. "Nui, do you know what that means? N-Not five hundred million dollars."

"No… Ragyo called me a mangled mongrel, because of my birth defects…" said Nui, sitting and leaning weakly against the fuselage.

(Gamagoori) "Your birth defects?"

Nui tapped her eyepatch. Scars cracked from her right cheek, mixing old with fresh. "This one. And my dwarfism."

"You weren't - you were born without that right eye?" said Ryuko, slightly flustered.

"Right, Ryuko-ko…" she nodded, limply. "Nudist Beach said the next time we meet, they would tell me more about it, if I told them one of the projects REVOCS was working on. Like Absolute Submission."

Slowly, but surely, the voice was returning to her. She still had not fully processed the nightmare.

"It's - quite a serious set of defects." murmured Inumata. "I do not understand what relevance it would have to your parents, however."

"They never tell me anything before I tell them something. Isn't that weiiiird?"

"…yeah." said Ryuko, placing her hand on the couturier's shoulder. "It is. But this time, we'll, uh… We'll make sure to get somewhere safe with them, alright? There's no way they're going to decline a discovery like our's."

"You're so kind, Ryuko-ko. I hope your boyfriend isn't dead by that horrible monster!" preened Nui.

"… M-Me too, Nui." muttered Ryuko, a mixture of sorrow and frustration in her clenched jaw.

The girl's voice still sounded like broken glass.

* * *

The scene when they arrived at the bunker was one of disgust and horror. The aftermath of Outcast and Nui's work in the corridors had rotted. Thin white lines of maggots were feasting on the carcasses, and with clenched jaws, closed eyes, pinched noses, the six cleaned as best as they could a path to a single room.

Ryuko, requiring her privacy, came to her old bedroom, the sorrow near ready to flood from her eyes in a waterfall of grief.

Her soul was anchored underneath the events of the past day, and no matter how tightly she attempted to clench to reality, she felt as if a demonic force were dragging her to hell with it. Once she had burst through the door and slammed it shut behind her, she screamed a heavy sob she knew the others would hear, but cared for nothing more than throwing herself deeper in to her sorrow. Her hands beat like mallets against her old pillow; she smelled the man on her bedsheets, the scent that had proven so comforting for so long only proving to be every bit as nightmarish as he now was. The guilt was wracking her mind and wrapping around it like a venomous spider, cobwebs like strings of grief threatening to wring it dry.

"W-Why can't I just have s-something good in my life happen?" she screamed silently in to her pillow, thrashing like a scared animal. "F-First dad, and Ragyo, and Satsuki, and Outcast…" Her tears were a white sheet as she wiped her eyes with her bed.

For all the physical and emotional pain she had endured, she would mirror it on to Ragyo, a thousand times over, if only to make the devil feel a fraction of her own emotions in that moment. She would mangle Ragyo's body like a butcher slaughters a cheap calf; her anger grew like a tremendous system of roots, and she only sobbed deeper upon remembering the painful lack of a sister or partner with whom to share it. Her movements were weighed as heavily as any suit of armor.

The others still alive, the faint hope the two would return, and her rage, were the tethers that tied her to life that night.

* * *

At a later hour of the night, when the woman's eyes had finally parched, the seven were stood outside again. Nui had relayed to her contact that she would be bringing the six with her, and though the rest were certain they would be more tight-lipped than ever, they hoped that news of their supposed criminality had spread and would assure Nudist Beach that they could be trusted.

From within the thick shrubbery that loomed so dimly, rustled a figure. He stole stealthily yet swiftly among the vegetation, camouflaged so well that all the seven could see were a pair of widening white eyes. The black beads of his pupils darted between the seven, and as if he were half-drunk he shot out on to the clearing where they were gathered. His upper half was nude, his lower half thankfully clothed, and his chest was as hairy as his face. If they hadn't the appointment, Ryuko would have assumed it to be a homeless survivalist, strangely unassuming.

"Ryuko - Ryuko Kiryuin - and your squadron? Inumata Houka, Nonon Jazakure, Gamagoori Ira, Sanageyama Uzu?" he said, in utter amazement.

Ryuko cocked her head at the familiarity of the statement. "Yes. We have an offer to make -"

"- this is very unexpected, very. Nui had said as much, but all of us thought she was lying."

Now the rest were perplexed over the familiarity of the man. He was too friendly for business, and not dressed for formality.

"We - I'm sorry, Ryuko. This comes as quite a surprise to me."

Searching with his eyes between the six figures, one strapped along Gamagoori's back, sorrow tinted his features for a moment.

"… Ah. And Satsuki, alongside your leviathan, are not with you, which means that they were -"

"Er - no, Lady Satsuki is here." said Gamagoori, turning his side to the man.

"I - aren't we supposed to get down to business, here? We need a place to stay. Didn't Nui tell you that?" grunted Ryuko, not catching the trend of the conversation.

"My - my apologies, Ryuko." said the man, a light bow to his head. It was a ridiculous sight, an absurd circus if any knew his history. Unbeknownst to all gathered, he had been the man behind the poisoning last month. Four hundred killed, six hundred injured, eighty critical. So it goes.

"This - is very unexpected. I hope this is not a ruse by Ragyo. This is something I'll need to run up the chain to command -"

" - we need a place to stay that's safer than here. Now." grunted Ryuko.

Like a mouse, the gruff man shrank back. "Of - of course. You all are not aware we've caught - what I assume - is your recent excursion, are you?"

"Our recent excursion?"

"Of course - we caught the bag as it came downstream. Dumping Rei's corpse in a river after mangling her in such a fashion - pardon the pun. You would make a wonderful operative - we've tried to assassinate her for years, and now, the bitch is dead."

"That was me! Ryuko-ko didn't do shit!" interrupted Nui.

"Then, why -" - the man stopped mid-question, and realized his answer.

He closed his eyes, and for all his chest hair and whiskers, a steel expression rose in his face.

"… Ryuko. I must verify that you will not divulge the location of Nudist Beach Japan's base of operations."

"You're finally talking normally." said Ryuko, shaking her head. "We have two offers to make, then. Nui has design documents on a new form of Life Fiber enhancement, called Absolute Submission. And our analyst has a discovery that allows uniforms that do not use Life Fibers. Our conditions are safe shelter."

"…right." muttered the man. "Nui. Show me these design documents, and I shall exchange them with the information Nudist Beach has uncovered for you."

"Ooo! New information!" said Nui like a child seeing a shiny object. From within a pouch kept in her dress, she pulled a folder forth, and shoved it in to the man's hands. He took it with accustomed movements to the jittery nature of the girl, and from within his pouch, he handed her a folder as well.

"Do you wish for this to be read out loud -"

" - tell me tell me tell me!" preened Nui as she flipped through the documents at rapid pace. "Ooo! That's my name on there! Nui Harime! January 20th, 2004!"

The man closed his eyes. "… Correct. Out of a long, extensive search, and careful investigation, Nudist Beach has ascertained an odd fact. You have told us that your missing right eye was the product of a birth defect, as is your dwarfism. However, the medical records of your birth make no mention of either."

"Ooo! What a juicy tidbit."

"I - what?" sputtered Inumata, aghast. "Her right eye was removed after her parents' deaths? What possible purpose would Ragyo do that for?"

"We only find information," muttered the man, "not intent. My meeting with Nui is finished. On to you, six."

"She's part of…never mind." Ryuko shook her head. "We have a discovery that can create armor as strong as Kamuis, without using a single Life Fiber."

Incredulous, the man raised his eyebrow. "This would certainly be a boon for Nudist Beach, if this could be replicated. We could put REVOCS out of business in a day."

Catching the trend of the conversation, Ryuko nodded. She was enjoying taking the reins of the negotiation. "We'll demonstrate this ability to you. In exchange, you'll bring us to your base of operations, and allow us to stay there as long as we'd like."

"On one condition, then."

"What is it?"

The man crouched, and pulled a single device from his pouch. By the clanking of the metal it was clear there were a dozen like it. It was shaped like a spider, a hollow center with eight legs extending like fangs and curving downwards.

"Allow me to place this upon the uniform. If it is formed of Life Fibers, you shall die within minutes. It will cause the syringes within to drain your entire body dry, like a starving vampire."

Ryuko's eyes widened as she realized where she had seen the device before, or, rather, the aftereffects. The corpses claimed by the fangs flashed in her mind as desiccated carcasses, dehydrated bodies of REVOCS employees.

"And," said the gruff man, outstretching his arms, "if you think to steal these devices from me, do not bother. They self-destruct at a moment's notice and leave no evidence at all."

"…hm." muttered Ryuko, suddenly pensive. "Inumata - you're absolutely sure our's don't use it, right?"

"Quite certain. We would have been dead to Ragyo's Absolute Submission otherwise."

"I volunteer." muttered Sanageyama, stepping forth and standing at the front like a branchless oak. "Without my arms, I am dead walking."

"… You're always so sacrificial." Ryuko rolled her eyes. "Fine - once. Demonstrate for our man here."

"Kiwami - Overdrive!"

\- and so the samurai garb appeared upon him once more. The sleeves ended where his own did. The hilt of the katana formed between his teeth, and the Rising Sun's rays were snipped.

The gruff man stood in amazement, widening eyes by the second. As if Sanageyama were a family pet, he pat incessantly at the armor, and each fresh examination set his fingers quivering more, and more.

"…hm. There is only one way to tell, regardless. Do you dare pit your armor against fangs?"

"I do." said Sanageyama, just as stout. The man smacked the device against his back -

\- and it shattered like glass. So durable was the suit, the fangs could not penetrate at all. His face was an aghast sheet as if he had just seen a ghost performing an unexplained magic trick. He pulled another device forth, and the same fate occurred. He thought at first it might have been a defect, yet as again, and again -

"I told you - one." said Ryuko, shoving the man off of the samurai. "You can clearly see it's not fucking made of Life Fibers."

"This - what is this material? How does it appear so suddenly?"

"We bargained with you to reveal the existence of it, not betray our secrets. We aren't telling you anything until you bring us to your base - right now, or we're leaving."

"Of - of course. I must check with Aikuro - but he will be in amazement over this discovery, I am certain." said the man, digging in to his pouch with no gentle hand. Through the flitter of his fingers, he typed out a message none could see.

The forest fell to silence. All gathered waited, with bated breath, in those minutes that passed. He was as much a madman at the keys as the esteemed analyst.

After a long pause, he glanced to the seven. "He asks - where is Outcast, the Fight Club president? Your leviathan?"

"… Wait, what?" Ryuko cocked her head. "It's - a long story. Does he need it now?"

Another series of typing, unseen messages shared. The man's expression grew pensive.

"… Is he the terror in the luxury district?"

Ryuko now regarded the man with far, far more confusion. "He - how did you know that? What do you mean, terror in the luxury district?"

"Why, he's been razing it to the ground, and feasting on the fattened aristocrats, of course. Aikuro was both aghast and pleased, having not seen the man since he was a boy."

"He - what?!" Too quickly for the sight to follow, Ryuko shot over to the man and placed her blades at his neck. "Tell me everything - now."

"Your blades do not scare me, Ryuko. Every member of Nudist Beach is prepared to die in the line of duty." As if they were not there at all, he continued the frantic typing. "Regardless, in light of this information, Aikuro has requested your seven meet with him personally."

"If - if he requires it, I can send over the relevant data I took on the leviathan." murmured Inumata. "It's a terribly lengthy process to create it in others, of course."

The gruff man threw his head up with a laugh. "Aikuro does not need information like that, boy. You would be best served leaving the entirety of your data in Nudist Beach's hands, so we can properly destroy it."

"Is - then what requirement does he have for our meeting?"

He laughed again. "He tells me - he was the one who created it."

* * *

The journey out of the forest was even more perilous than the one in. For hours they strode, constantly searching, their eyes all aflutter like stars in the midnight sky overhead. He took them far outside of city limits, past the smokestacks of the factories, and to a far more impoverished district, with muddy slums and smog for air.

They were near the coast; he relayed that the pollution of the area had grown worse and worse by the year, and joked that if their activity would not kill them, the tainted water would soon enough.

He led them through winding alleyways, his eyes at his back and overlooking his muscular shoulders, his face shrouded by cracked light above and cracked dirt below. Having spent her entire life in the lap of luxury, Ryuko felt a distinctly unreal quality to the surroundings. As was the man's suggestion, their faces were shrouded. They were black shadows walking down the corridors of shanty wood, and what uniforms the inhabitants could afford were tattered, patchwork where they had been passed down for generations and sewn by far less experienced couturiers.

It had been a monumental task to assure Nui's silence.

Then, he came to a single home that loomed unassumingly among a sea of brown and chipped bricks. He knocked at the front door, which was near set to crack open, with hairier knuckles. From within this door passed a single voice, masculine, and questioning by the intonation of it, but none of the seven gathered could catch more than the trend of it. By workings of his lips he appeared to answer in a positive manner; then they were through to the dirt-soaked floors and creaking boards.

It was a single kitchen, matted in dust. It had not been used in fifteen years.

Through this kitchen he led them through a door, and in the next room laid an oddly quaint and unassuming wooden trapdoor, possibly leading to a basement or some other. By a single string attached it opened, silent as a mouse, and then the eight were through and climbing down a ladder cramped within the wooden hole.

As Gamagoori took the journey down, he was silently grateful the operative was nearly as wide as he, for the accommodations were more comforting than the helicopter. He felt some strange kinship between him and this man, whose name was Tsumage.

As they descended to the bottom of the shaft, instantly the setting changed. The hall was narrow and appeared to be of solid steel. At the end of this was a single glass door, which the heroes, now walking single-file, could see opened to a glass chamber, like an airlock.

"I'll tell them to skip the entrance examination. Especially on Nui." muttered Tsumage.

The door slid open as he pulled it, and at this glass chamber a steel door was at the end. Instantly at their sides, which had been previously hidden by the narrowness of the hall through which they entered, were a dozen men holding the spiderlike devices. Tsumage waved them down with a sigh, and told them much the same.

These men, who had killed thirty, injured fifty, and sent six to critical condition, nodded their assent. They knew the chain of command well, and though their eyes widened in curiosity as the two sisters conscious and not passed by them, they had always trusted Tsumage to be cautious.

The steel door at the other end of the chamber opened, to a vast base that extended for miles long. They were on a mesh platform with a staircase leading down; at the center drew a river of water purified and far cleaner than the ocean in to which it deposited outside, through a great metal grate that was at least a mile across and a mile tall. The whole base was a dreadnought, steel platforms extending gigantic beams flanking the flow of water downward.

Shuffling down below and making their way past Tsumage and the heroes, at least a hundred men; and if Tsumage were telling the truth, there were dozens of locations sprawled across the world much like this, let alone what agents were currently occupied with other matters. These guerillas wore tattered pants like the rest, and their upper halves, unfortunately nude. REVOCS' overwhelming market share had only left them with the bare essentials for clothing not tainted by the hated fabrics.

Along these walls were a series of steel enclosures, doors at regular intervals that jutted out from the stone caverns like pristine housing. They stole swiftly among the crowd. The conversations were abuzz with the news.

"Tsumage's brought some serious shit back now."

One killed, five injured, three critical.

"The two REVOCS sisters? What made them snap on the bitch?"

Five, eight, two.

"If it's not a ruse, he'll be pleased."

Ten, twenty, ten.

Tsumage led them through one door and in to another corridor. Suddenly he stopped, and gestured to the final door at the right, of which there were dozens. Finally, they felt as if they could speak.

"My - god." muttered Inumata, in utter amazement at the dreadnought of a base in which they were standing. "This - I had thought Nudist Beach to be advanced, but this…"

"This is fucking neato." Nonon shook her head.

"There are dozens like it." muttered Tsumage. "Even I do not know the location of any besides this. You may travel as freely as you would like between these - simply ask Aikuro for it, and he shall grant it."

Ryuko raised an eyebrow incredulously. "Why? If you already know how to create the - Specters -" she said, pleased with the impromptu nickname - "- then what information do you want from us?"

Tsumage shook his head. "We do not need information, any longer. If you're engaged in the same mission against REVOCS and Ragyo, then you are comrades-in-arms."

"Assuming the leviathan doesn't get to her first."

Tsumage's eyes drooped. "… Correct. Or if he is not captured. I do not know what horrors that would bring."

(Gamagoori) "What are you talking about?"

(Tsumage) "If she can discover how to create the - Specters, then -"

"Tsumage! You're as late as ever!" shouted a voice from the other end of the corridor. The eight turned their vision suddenly, and found the source to be a flamboyant man with blue hair, his lower half thankfully clothed and bringing more attention to the pristine, shaven skin of his other. He looked as smooth and clear as a newborn, a certain innocence to his features.

Three thousand, six thousand and fifty three, four hundred.

Inumata, with a single pimple growing on his brow and underneath his blue hair, felt jealous of the clear sight of this man. Perhaps he would grow up to be like him.

Tsumage and the newest blue-hair wonder embraced.

"So!" said the nudist, "I am Aikuro, and you, the Kiryuin sisters, the Elite Five - sans their leviathan, and REVOCS most esteemed couturier, Nui Harime. I'll relay the information to the man at once!" Flamboyant and bombastically, he pulled a small device from his pocket and typed in a wild flurry. Then it was back in his pocket, like a flickering spirit. "Come, come - are you tired, in need of food, accommodations?"

"Satsuki and Sanageyama need medical care." muttered Ryuko. "Gamagoori - go with them and explain what happened."

Aikuro clapped his hands, and Tsumage gestured vaguely to the samurai and the behemoth still grasping Satsuki. As two conscious figures, they nodded, and Tsumage led them back outside.

"And if you hurt her -" shouted Nonon as they left, and immediately Aikuro burst in to laughter.

"Of course we would not! Isshin would kill us himself!"

The eyes in the corridor, of which there were nine, grew wide.

"Isshin? My dad?"

"…ah." murmured Aikuro, suddenly flustered. "Please - let us go to a better room for this. I'm sure you all have a dozen questions each, and so long as you have no ill intent, I shall answer each."

Not wanting to prolong the matter any further, the four heroes nodded. They were led to the final door at the right where the man had entered, and a fierce array of blue lights pierced their eyes as they entered. There were computer monitors strewn all about the walls, illumining the room by their flicker alone. At the center, a single black chair, surrounded by two semicircles of keyboards and levers much the same.

The kinship with Inumata was growing by the second.

As if a show of good will, Aikuro gestured to a set of seats prepared for eight, and Nonon noted with a smirk that they were all various sizes in accordance with the size differences of the group. They sat, and Aikuro pulled his chair over to face them, closing the door behind as he went.

"… Ask whatever you would like." murmured Aikuro, leaning back and stretching spindly arms over. "I've been given full clearance for any whom Ryuko and Satsuki trust."

"Ooo! Am I trusted?" said Nui, finally with that horrific screech again.

"… Yes, Nui." Ryuko shook her head. If she had a million years, she would have spent every last asking questions.

"Is L-Lady Satsuki going to be okay?" said Nonon, her decorum quivering.

"… I do not know. She is unconscious, correct?" muttered Aikuro. "What was the nature of her injury?"

In few words, Ryuko relayed it to the man.

Aikuro grew pensive. It was clear he truly did not know.

"It's likely reacted with her Life Fibers, then." he murmured. "It's akin to having a part of you torn in half, I would imagine. We won't be able to do much until he gets here."

"Her Kamui was destroyed by Absolute Submission, as well. Could it have been caused by the stress of that?"

"No, no. Not those Life Fibers." Not catching the ignorance of the four, he shook his head. "The ones throughout her body, of course."

Ryuko's eyes widened, her theory from earlier perilously close to being confirmed. "What - what are you talking about?"

Aikuro cocked his head. "She's - the Life Fibers infused in her body. Ragyo never told you of this?"

Ryuko sighed and slunk back in her chair. "… No. Are we going to get another exposition dump?"

"It appears so." smirked Inumata. Knowing there to be no escape from it now, Aikuro leaned back much the same, speaking to the ceiling.

"It began in the early months of 2000 - or, rather, it began five years prior to that, but I shall skip the scientific details. Isshin has related to me much of it, though I never imagined I would tell the story.

So! Ragyo had set Isshin to work on a wonderful, highly-confidential project, which was readied a month or so prior to Satsuki's birth. He had received virtually unlimited funding on the matter, and as anyone who has even the lightest bit of scientific curiosity - it's truly the dream. You, Inumata Houka, may recognize some kinship."

"Of course." muttered Inumata, who had enjoyed the laundering of funds for his own project.

"Of course. This experiment was to infuse a human being with Life Fibers."

"He - what?"

"Please." he muttered. "The questions will wait until the end. You can't expect a story to be told instantly.

Regardless, the experiment proved to be a success in Satsuki. He had some qualms on experimenting on his own baby, of course, but for a man as devoted as Isshin, it was hard to see past that scientific flurry of results. The funding of REVOCS alongside his own romantic feelings towards the woman ordering it made it difficult to resist. The first, genuine, the secondary, her ruse.

Fortunately, once the experiment had been determined a success in Satsuki, the mist cleared from his eyes, so to speak. He became utterly cognizant of the horrific side effects that could have occurred, especially if it were repeated by someone not nearly as experienced as Isshin. If the Life Fiber infusion rate is too high - a high risk of death from brain damage or blood loss. If the Life Fiber infusion rate is too low - much the same.

I suppose once this excitement wore off and made way for the fact that he could have easily killed his own child, combined with Ragyo pushing so heavily for a second, with even higher and riskier infusion rate, and he realized the woman's intentions could not possibly be altruistic.

Scientific curiosity always progresses faster than ethics."

"You sound as if you're familiar with it." muttered Inumata.

"What did I just say?" said Aikuro, shaking his head.

"Regardless, it was for this reason he did not pursue the treatment on you, Ryuko. He coached his excuse in enough jargon to set the woman off the trail temporarily, but she would catch him, eventually, and prior to your birth he had already ascertained there would be little safety for him. The cunt - pardon the slur - was growing more monstrous by the day.

And as your father figured out just as you now have, Nudist Beach is the only organization free from Ragyo's clutches - particularly now that the other fashion companies have gone bankrupt, in light of your Tri-City Raids."

"It was a risk we were willing to take." sighed Ryuko.

"There's no need to dwell on the past. Nudist Beach has always adapted to the circumstances.

And so, an operative came to me one morning with quite peculiar news. He had been pardoned of his crimes without a trial, and outside of the courtroom approached a man with orange hair like the sun. Bizarrely, this man asked him of Nudist Beach's purpose, and claimed to be Isshin Kiryuin. Certainly a way to gain an audience with us - we simply couldn't spare a chance like that, and the initial payment was to the tune of a billion yen."

"That's nearly ten million dollars!" preened Nui.

"Correct. At the time, we were a small, communist organization. You may find some kinship at this as well, Nonon Jazakure. Within the month, we had met face to face, another billion yen had been deposited, and though I was at time loathe to take money REVOCS ruthlessly exploits out of their employees and sweatshops, I can't say we haven't lived off the fat of these payments ever since. Quite a risk-taker he was, and I, more than happy to listen. Let alone what a boon the funding was for my own plans at the time."

His eyes widened in horror. "Wait - oh my god, I'm terribly sorry! Your father is alive, Ryuko - to be clear."

"He - what?!"

"Yes, yes - I'm terribly sorry - I've nearly forgotten he faked his own death! You may ask him for the details of it yourself - of course! What an awful thing - my god, I apologize. What an awful thing it would be to leave that until the end - forgive me. I've already notified him of the good news, and he is attempting to secure safe transport. Presently, he is in Germany, finishing some project or another."

" … I have to be dreaming." murmured Ryuko. Her entire body felt as if it weighed twenty thousand pounds.

"My apologies. I'm terribly, terribly, terribly sorry for that. My god - what an awful thing it would be to leave that until the end and leave you worried."

"… Keep going."

"… Yes. Right.

At the time, I was a young man, only some five years older than the rest of you now. Ever the scientist who was plunged in to the shadows so suddenly - as you can imagine, if I were ever captured, I would be sentenced to death regardless - I began a curiosity on the unethical sides of scientific endeavors.

Certainly, Nudist Beach has no qualms in chemical warfare for its goals, now, and against the damnable uniforms we require all the help we can get. A war crime is simply what the victors thought was unfair.

Sanageyama Uzu should be most aware of that."

Shaking his head ruefully, he continued.

"Isshin ascertained quite quickly the same as you did - that there would exist some method eventually to control Life Fibers, and as the domineering presence she was, that Ragyo would seek a way to control people through this. A human infused with Life Fibers would fall prey to this in a much more horrific fashion.

And I, a young radical given a mission to save the world, with one of the world's most premier scientists at my side. Our weapons were crude and rudimentary at the time, far from the terrifically effective sort they are now. Yet we still bleed like the rest - vulnerable underneath Life Fiber enhanced reactions and swiftness."

"I-It's a terrifying feeling." muttered Inumata, flashbacks setting him shaking. "Absolute Submission destroyed our uniforms. A child with a uniform could have killed us in an instant."

Aikuro nodded. "A taste of the nudist life. Fortunately, REVOCS still has to hold the public appearance of legality, and we have no such qualms to the rule of law.

We began to wonder if an alternative fabric could be woven, something that would allow man to stand against sword and blade. If a human being could be infused with fabric that gives strength and speed, there certainly must have existed a way to give the same without."

"You -"

" - for fuck's sakes, stop it.

The initial experiments went well, of course. We began to attempt it on mouse models, and I had already succeeded in C. elegans - ah, a roundworm used in neurological studies - but although amusing, I couldn't very well send a fleet of mice and worms in to REVOCS headquarters. Let alone that a rodent can barely imagine strength, power."

"A rat can't become a leviathan." muttered Ryuko.

"Precisely. Whether it would even work in a human had yet to be seen. If it succeeded, the fashion companies of the world would never allow the secret to come out, and putting on a piece of clothing is far more appealing than subjecting your infant to experimentation. Only Nudist Beach were insane enough to attempt it.

But, as you may guess, there's not a woman that exists who would accept her partner experimenting on their child in service to a procedure so unproven, unless she had an ulterior motive for the matter, like Ragyo. That, and Isshin's own sorrow, his constant pressuring at my back…"

Aikuro shook his head.

"He still holds terrible guilt for giving in to Ragyo's demands, let alone his failure to bring the two of you with him. With despair came desperation. He had destroyed all remnants of his research alongside every backup we could find, but as the intrepid Inumata has so wonderfully shown, experiments of the past become child's play over time."

"Are you calling me a child?"

Aikuro laughed and shook his head. "No, no. I'm merely jealous I was outdone nearly two decades later. You'll allow me that.

Regardless. If Ragyo were able to achieve some manner of control over Life Fibers - as you saw with Satsuki - it was clear the two of you would be utterly at her mercy.

And so, I, with all the fervor of a world-savior, and Isshin, with all the desperation of a protective father, stole an infant from the crib - far north of here. I do not know where his real parents are, now, though it was far before he would have had any memory of them. Let alone…"

He sighed, heavily.

"… Our prodding at him. Syringes, samples taken, throwing him under a number of conditions as if he were just as much an animal as the dozens of dead mice we had left in our wake. Surgeries so numerous - it was a wonder the baby didn't die on the table, the child's heart beating, stopping so many times, we could have filled ten graves. Isshin said we were more necromancers than men.

And the most damning thing of all was that we could not provide a safe home for the boy. We were still terrified the day of reckoning could come to our single base, at the time, at any moment, and if Ragyo discovered - and captured - this child, she would use him for her own ends, as a certainty. It wasn't clear whether the ability would even manifest.

And so, on March 21st, 2002, this infant was dropped off at one of the nicer homes we could find within a low-ranking residential district. The couple had been trying for a child for quite some time, and we assumed they would never allow the miracle boy to come to any harm. I noted to Isshin that if we were necromancers then, we were storks now.

However, the residential district was not only chosen due to its distance from the boy's former home. At the time, Ragyo, making a good showing for the future generation, announced a large endowment for an academy to be built near this district, and as a show of good faith, her two daughters would attend this when they entered high school."

He smirked and closed his eyes to the set of ones wider. "Go ahead. Speak."

"You're not going to say what I think you're about to say."

"You made him fall in love with Ryuko?" sputtered Nonon.

Aikuro's eyes shot open. He cocked his head. "Er - what?"

"He's - my boyfriend." murmured Ryuko. "That kid you dropped off grew in to a man. My boyfriend."

"A-Ah," said Aikuro, raking back sweat-plastered hair with a free hand. "N- No. That was not part of the plan, although I hope you two are - happy together. That would be all well and good. We simply assumed a man with the ability would be useful, though to be honest - we had stopped observation of the boy by the time he was twelve. I hadn't seen the ability manifest, and assumed it to be a failure, until he began attending Honnōji."

"And he started his own Fight Club, with no members, and beat the shit out of half the school." murmured Nonon. "At least he turned out to be an aggressive guy."

"He sure did!" preened Nui. "I bet Ryuko-ko loves riding the obsidian train!"

Not catching the sticky reference, Aikuro nodded.

"Ah - correct. Quite. U-Unfortunately, we could do little more than that. Isshin's destruction of his research would slow REVOCS progress heavily, and we hoped that Ragyo's monstrousness would become just as apparent to her daughters as it had been to her husband. Through the acts some might call 'terrorism', we were hoping to slow REVOCS ever-encroaching market share."

"You killed a lot of people for that, you know." grunted Nonon.

"Would you have preferred we stand outside REVOCS headquarters with picket signs saying 'Down with Ragyo'? You'll note our bombings were largely centered on higher REVOCS officials - executive meetings and the likes. The scum of the earth whom no one would care if they were gone - and as I would like to point out, the poisonings we did perform tanked REVOCS stock for months.

You, of all people, should understand that, Jazakure."

"I'm not talking about the rich! You ended up killing a lot of REVOCS' workers, too!"

"And Honnōji students." grunted Ryuko.

"How astute that you reference our recent poisoning - had you read the news reports recently, you would have known that the toxin were in uniforms far out of the price range of anyone sympathetic. Rich, spoiled teenagers that would have grown to be just as much of vulturous piss-ants as their parents. Tsumage did a public service taking that refuse out."

"I - what?" said Ryuko, suddenly flustered.

"You've dealt with the aristocracy all your life, Ryuko Kiryuin. For every Ryuko and Satsuki, there are thousands of Ragyo's.

But I shall ask, again - would you prefer Satsuki have killed every last one of you? Your leviathan was only recruited two months ago. As the design documents Nui handed over to us on Absolute Submission noted, the project was heavily slowed after our greatest victory yet, the 2015 bombing - two hundred dead employees, and four hundred injured.

It was a wonder they did not go bankrupt, so terrible were their public relations.

Their progress on new projects came to a screeching halt for an entire year. You shouldn't think for a second that you would have lived without Nudist Beach."

"It's true!" preened Nui. "Terrorism really does work magic!"

"And all of it - for what? To protect me and Satsuki from Ragyo?"

Aikuro shook his head, anger flashing in waves across his face. "I shall show you what Nudist Beach is fighting against. Nui - hand me one of your blades, and stand."

"Ooo! Are we going to fight?" said Nui, spinning like a spastic child as she handed one half of her scissor to the man.

"We are not. Lend me your right arm, Nui. This argument will be won in a single stroke."

He shot his vision to the three still seated. "Do you want to know what drives a man mad at night? To risk his life, to attempt to halt this horrific process REVOCS has been perfecting, and then to be told off by a girl who has no clue what she says! You all are perfectly aware by now that Nui Harime was stolen out of her crib."

"What are you going to do?!" said Inumata, shooting to his feet.

"This is what REVOCS is doing to stolen, female infants - and if they are allowed to perfect their Life Fiber controlling technology, what will march on the steps of every government on the planet!"

\- too quickly for the sight to follow, he shot the pilfered blade to the sky, and with one fell stroke he sliced Nui's right arm clear from her body. A horrific shriek entered the air, her one eye widening in horror as she turned it wildly to the stump; instantly the three's abilities appeared, and before any could react -

"- wait." said Ryuko. Her eyes widened as she looked to the amputated stump, blood geysering out and painting the floor crimson.

"Ooo! Life Fibers!"

And out of the bloodied, decapitated shoulder, there was a smattering of red yarn unspooling horrifically. Aikuro scooped the limp arm, which had sank against the floor and was connected to the body by a single red strand, and his eyes filled with tears as his hands turned the arm back on to its stump like a screw. In an instant, it reformed back on to the mangled body of the couturier, the fabric underneath stitching and sewing her wound shut.

"And that," grunted Aikuro, "is why you were stolen from your crib. Your birth defects were not present at birth at all."

"Ooo! Serious shit, Aikuro. Now it all makes sense!" said the imp, spinning like a top.

Then, suddenly, she stopped. Her single eye filled with a single tear.

"…ooo… Now it all makes sense…"

Sighing, Aikuro nodded. "You must have been experimented on, much the same. Some pale imitation of Isshin's research with all the horrific side effects."

"… Is that why dad didn't experiment on me?"

"I told you. Scientific curiosity progresses faster than ethics. Their progress was slowed after Isshin's destruction of his research, though it's a certainty whatever infants they've infused now will be of a far more… healthy, variety."

"… That's why I'm so short." said Nui, drooping like a branch. "And the eye."

"That was my hypothesis." Aikuro muttered, shaking his head ruefully. "I'm - sorry, Nui. We had suspected it, as soon as you had told us of the birth defects with no evidence, and once Isshin had gotten the chance to investigate your case, it all fell together amicably. We only withheld it to ensure you would continue bringing new information."

"…oh, man." murmured Nonon, guilt pressing like a stone on her heart. "We just - oh, man. All that time…"

"… Regardless," said Aikuro, throwing his hands up in an attempt to lighten the mood, "we shall help you in any way we can. I've already had rooms prepared for the each of you, and Isshin will arrive as soon as he can to see you, Ryuko."

"Ooo! What a tearful reunion that'll be!"

Over her shoulder, Aikuro gestured vaguely to his brain.

The child was truly a child.


	8. Chapter 8 - A Real Fight Club

From within a single home, in a single, dark corner of the luxury district, roused a single man.

He had been alerted of the news of the eight by the president of REVOCS, from a message sent to the board of directors. This dashing figure, with kempt facial hair and a white mop upon his head, was a picture of aristocracy. As the leviathan had said of them, he, and his wife, cared for little else but dollar signs. The family politics of the matter were no consequence.

From the other end of the district, a terrible ruckus had broken out and awoken the man. He thought he had seen a rainbow-haired sight light the streets like a lamp, before disappearing down a darker alley; but he, still, cared little for these matters.

This man, under whom were a litany of soldiers both indebted and blackmailed, was Hirogane. For whatever project Ragyo, and the scientists who swore loyalty only to her had been so tirelessly toiling on, he had arranged for a dozen infants to be stolen from the more impoverished districts. The man knew not to ask questions so long as the payment flowed.

He yawned with the lightness of a sinless man. Rousing stealthily yet swiftly with his fattened frame, he pushed with some difficulty down the circular marble stars, waddling with a careful step. He was a wide figure in a far different way than the leviathan and behemoth.

With slow gait, he made his way underneath an archway in to a kitchen, where golden tapestries and Life Fibers decorated the walls. His wife had tried her hand at interior design recently to serve as a good example for their future child. As was the case with rich men and women, excepting the eight heroes, they believed misfortune existed for others' lives and not their own.

From outside of the windows, began a rustling of the trimmed hedges and shrubbery.

Hirogane turned his gaze curiously out, and saw a dark figure, looming like a wild and mountainous animal; then by a rubbing of his eyes, the silhouette disappeared. Presuming it to be a trick of the mind, he shook his head and yanked open the fridge with sausage-like fingers. The white light blinded him for a moment; he put his hand over his eyes and negotiated about the leftovers within, rattling like a mouse as he searched for some sweet confection or other.

No sooner than he had found a plate did the rustling begin again.

And as he turned to the noise again, his blood grew cold.

Crouching like a monstrous gnome was the obsidian terror, saliva and crimson dripping down its circular maw, which seemed to extend infinitely downwards. Instantly a shriek broke from Hirogane's livid lips; the creature burst through the wall like a wrecking ball and sent a tumultuous storm in its entrance, knocking the man off his feet from the sudden shock, tremors shaking the ground like an earthquake as the shockwave blasted the man back.

It unhinged its jawless and eyeless features, erupting in to a roar that shattered that windows and instantly tore open the lights. As Hirogane tripped back his eardrums burst - the world went silent, and blood curdled as his uniform sprang to life, and as the vampiric syringes gave way to untold power -

\- the claws lopped his head clear off his shoulders. A shriek of horror was frozen on his face like a mangled painting; his body fell in a puddle of deeper red. The drill of the maw feasted on his corpse as if a headless rabbit; the creature tore him limb from limb, slurping amputated red sheathes in a cauldron of fat and flesh, as it smashed through to the main chamber.

A woman cried out at the base of the stairs, shaking like a leaf as she stumbled back against the marble. The last sight she saw in life was the terror's chattering teeth and the infinite abyss that lay deeper within the monstrosity. Her bones splintered and shattered like shredded paper underneath titanic grasp, the terror seeming to grin like an obsidian nightmare as it fed.

By a sweep of its claws it degloved the woman's skin from her bones, hills of flesh that were pulled loosely. It scooped her between its teeth and snapped shut around her neck, and moved upon her limbs as its next source of gluttony. There was no tongue to be found within the terror, yet a foul liquid dripped down.

Not even a mouse skittering would escape its senses, so keen were they and devoted to its task. Ripping the carcass with no gentle hands, the evidence of the murders disappeared down the infinite throat.

* * *

The following morning proved far less stressful than the last. Though the nightmare of the leviathan still weighed heavily on Ryuko's mind, her tears had dried, fully believing that whatever obsidian horror wrought in to the world was still him, in some manner. She would not allow herself to think otherwise.

"...h-he'll come back. He'll come back. O-Once I kill Ragyo, he'll know I'm safe, and he'll come back." Ryuko whispered to herself, shaking with a chill underneath her blanket. "S-Satsuki, too. It'll all be okay. It'll all be okay. At least dad is alive."

She turned in her bed, sat next to Satsuki's in the infirmary of Nudist Beach.

Her sister still had not shown any signs of life. Her eyes were like empty mirrors, and if it had not been for the machine telling her Satsuki was still, in some faint manner, alive, Ryuko would have gone mad with the thought she wasn't. Deep cracks of stress marked Ryuko's face like unkempt pavement. The world was a numb, vat of gel through which she was moving, delayed as if she were an apparition that was not yet lucid.

From the clock plastered in the right corner of these white walls, she knew she would be expected for breakfast soon. She swept her legs over the bed, muttering an order for Ranketsu to unsheathe over her shirt and jeans, and began to make her way to one of the chambers beyond. As Aikuro had said, they were treated well, and the billions of yen Isshin had funneled to their organization over the years allowed a modest standard of living in the underground base.

As always, humor would save the six heroes.

* * *

They sat in Gamagoori's room, a chamber far wider than the others. Down the table where the six ate - adult, teenager, child, infant, fetus, embryo.

"Jeez. You eat even less than I do," grinned Nonon, prodding Nui at her left. "You sure you're not hungry for more?"

She was attempting to light the first spark. If the ball were to budge, the rest would help her push it up the hill, and they could alleviate their woes.

Nui shook her head, eating single spoonfuls of rice out of a bowl that contained only several. "Don't be silly, Nononononononononononononon."

The six laughed a fake laugh.

"And this man, here." said Gamagoori, prodding Sanageyama at his left. The samurai now wore prosthetics attached to his stumps, with some sense of touch regained. "You sure you shouldn't be eating more after a surgery like that?"

"I had body parts removed, not added." said Sanageyama with his traditional wit. "If anything, I should eat less than the rest of you."

(Inumata) "As if. Your shoulders will be working overtime, now."

(Sanageyama) "They shall match Gamagoori's within a week."

A genuine laugh.

(Gamagoori) "You've gone crazy, too. Try overhead pressing six hundred, first, and then we'll talk."

(Sanageyama) "Can you?"

(Gamagoori) "Of course I can."

(Ryuko) "Yeah, push press." said Ryuko, grinning like a hyena. "That doesn't count."

"I - h-how do you know?" muttered Gamagoori, abruptly flustered. The six laughs were rapidly becoming genuine.

"A big, strong leviathan told me. He bet you would try to pass it off as strict, 'cause he did his strict."

"He had the same amount of dip I did!" shouted Gamagoori, aghast at the betrayal. The chamber erupted in to laughter.

(Nonon) "I bet he was just trying to impress you, you know."

Ryuko shook her head, sorrow melting away in her laughter. "Nope. Gamagoori's trying to cover up his crushing loss, just like Outcast said he would."

At the mention of the man, Sanageyama's brow furrowed, and his expression grew dark. "… Has Aikuro said any on the man's transformation?"

Inumata nodded. "We believe it's a matter similar to when Kamuis eat their wearers - fortunately, given that the beast comes from his cerebral cortex and has no existence outside of he, whereas Kamuis have a physical existence, it may simply be a period of rage."

"… Wait." Ryuko's eyes widened. "You mean…"

"He can't be dead, right? Because it wouldn't exist if he was dead!" shouted Nonon, the one bit of good news in the past day like a lifesaver.

Inumata nodded, with that same wave of relief. "Aikuro and I talked for many hours on it - I did not want to bring the good news until we were absolutely certain."

"T-Thank you." said Ryuko, wiping the last bout of tears from her eyes. "S-So long as he doesn't die in the luxury district, we - we can find a way to bring him back, right?"

Inumata averted his gaze.

"... That, unfortunately, we do not know - but… He's as perplexed as the rest of us as to how it could have occurred, though he's quite happy at the destruction it's brought. It appears he's only targeting the luxury district - Ryuko's, ah, 'protector' hypothesis may be true after all."

"What a wrecking ball of hate!"

"He was always too protective for his own good." muttered Ryuko, shaking her head. "If we deal with the board of directors and Ragyo, I think he'll come back. Once there's no reason to - protect me, I guess."

Sanageyama nodded. "And when he returns, I shall thank the man."

Nine eyes widened.

(Gamagoori) "You really have gone crazy. Did he remove your brain, too?"

(Nonon) "I mean, he did save us by killing those chicks, but jeez."

(Sanageyama) "There is no greater test of will than to lose your limbs, and to still fight onward. I have lost my arms in a battle with a true kaiju, a demonic leviathan, and I shall remember the tale for all time."

(Nui) "What an otaku!"

"And what is more," said Sanageyama, drawing up and standing like a new oak, "I - am now a cyborg samurai. He has unwittingly granted my childhood dream."

The entire room erupted in to pained groans.

"Please stop watching samurai movies. Please."

"That's more like anime shit. He's going to try to get a gunlance on one of his arms, next."

Sensing that he was mulling it over, the five shook their heads in unison.

"It would be a terribly impractical piece, regardless. Who would design such a weapon?" muttered Inumata.

A wave of familiarity struck Ryuko, though she shook it out of her head with a sigh. Her trauma was lifted, but not yet deadened. She saw these same marks on the others' faces, and sensed that they were as lost as she.

"… Yeah." murmured Ryuko, swallowing the last of her meal. "… I'm not really sure what we're going to do, now that we can't go in to the luxury district. Just need to wait for my dad to get here. Aikuro said he might know what to do with Satsuki - to help her."

"If - if he was the one who…infused her with Life Fibers, it may simply be an adverse reaction." muttered Inumata with an air of false confidence.

"It's like we're sisters, too!" chimed Nui, bobbing her head. Far from the annoyance it had once been, the inexorable energy of the girl was a life preserver they could each grip tightly. "Except her right eye isn't fucked up! Ooo - do you think she would like that? I can sew her an eyepatch like mine."

"I - don't think she would, Nui." Ryuko shook her head.

"She's going to shit herself when she sees Nui's with us."

"I know the feeling." murmured Inumata. "The leviathan's eyes were like watermelons when he first saw her."

"He was so happy to see me!"

"I - do not believe he was, but you may believe what you will. You two did save our lives, after all."

"… Hey, Nui." murmured Ryuko. "If you were going to betray Ragyo, anyway, why did you bother installing all the tracking on our uniforms? Back before I started sewing them?"

Nui cocked her head. "What are you talking about, Ryuko-ko?"

"When we recruited Inumata, he took one look at the uniform you wove for him and said it was full of shit to track his location, his heartbeat, audio, everything."

"Fortunately, you two had never trusted them from the start." said Inumata, shaking his head ruefully. "I imagine it was quite amusing to conduct your meetings with Nonon as plainclothes."

"That's weird! I never put shit like that in there!" said Nui. A wave of realization struck the cyclops. "Ooo… That was when Ragyo was helping me sew! I was so tiny back then!"

"How much smaller can you even get?" muttered Gamagoori, feeling a strange kinship between the dwarf and himself. If he was skyscraper, she was brick.

"Three feet and one quarter -"

\- from the door passed a knock that roused the seven to their feet. Ryuko shot up, her expression perplexed. So engrossed had she been in the conversation and comradery, the affair had almost begun to melt away in her mind.

Realization and hope struck her a second later. She rushed to the door, caught the knob, and thrust it open -

\- and could hardly contain her disappointment. The blue-haired man was back again, shaking his head as he pressed gently through.

"My apologies if you were expecting your father. It will take some time for him to arrive."

"It's…alright." murmured Ryuko. "Did you need something?"

A series of applause broke out from beyond the corridor, from the main lobby, cracking the air in a raucous clamor.

"I simply thought you might want to enjoy the show. The men are certainly pleased with it," said Aikuro as he produced a foldable screen from his pouch, seated at the back of his pants in a precarious spot. He set it against the wall, and by a flicker of his fingers it lit to life, where all eyes in that room - all thirteen - were now trained. "Channel… five, I believe…"

Upon the screen appeared a live video, an aerial shot from the luxury district. Lines of military men and women shot around the perimeter like streaks of green, and the swath of destruction the terror was carving within red. It was Christmas come early.

"Something to lighten your spirits, perhaps. Are you at all fans of the bourgeoisie?" said Aikuro, leaning back in a chair next to Gamagoori.

(Gamagoori) "Nope."

(Ryuko) "Not one bit."

(Inumata) "Dreadful creatures."

(Sanageyama) "Disgraceful."

(Nonon) "Fascists."

(Nui) "Not even me!"

"Present company excluded, of course." said Aikuro with a wry smirk.

"None taken." muttered Ryuko, shaking her head. She could hardly believe the sight before her, nor the one around her. "I wish we could do something to help him, though. I-I don't want him getting killed by the military."

"It's my worry, as well." said Aikuro. "Unfortunately, any intervention would make us the same targets."

"Nothing left but to enjoy the show while it lasts, then." grinned Nonon, leaning back. "Looks like they got a good shot of all the action, too."

(Gamagoori) "He's putting on a real Fight Club, now."

(Ryuko) "…huh. That left leg still glows blue. Think he's still got the telekinesis? They won't be able to do anything to him if he does."

(Inumata) "We shall see soon. It appears they're rolling in the tanks, now."

(Nonon) "Look at those big ol - uh. I guess it doesn't have eyes."

(Aikuro) "The official report states it's simply some Kamui gone amok. They'll likely attempt to use Banshi ammunition."

(Ryuko) "Uh - isn't that only used to get Kamuis to go back to normal? It's not going to do shit against Outcast."

(Aikuro) "Precisely. Nudist Beach was the primary impetus for that ammunition being created."

(Inumata) "It'll take some time for them to reach the beast. Is there a story behind that, Aikuro?"

(Aikuro) "As I recall, Nudist Beach Russia - ah, Nudistkiy Plyazh - had the ingenious idea to sleep deprive executives, then rig up a device dubbed the "Kamui Provoker"."

(Nonon) "Sounds fancy."

(Aikuro) "It was a sound cannon they stole from Moscow police. In private, Dmitri nicknamed it after his ex-wife, and said it was nearly as effective at annoyance as the bitch - pardon the slur - herself. Ten to twenty minutes of dodging and taunting with that incessant thing blaring in their sleep-deprived ears, the Kamui would awaken, and the beast would slaughter the rest of the executives for us.

Unfortunately, they developed ammunition that would return the Kamui to normal - Banshi - in short order, and from what I last heard, the Russians had held a funeral for poor Marsha."

(Inumata) "As I expected - a wonderful tale."

(Nui) "With a happy ending! Ooo, look! They're trying to fire it at Outcasty now!"

(Gamagoori) "The man might turn back to normal, just to say it's not made of Life Fibers."

(Sanageyama) "The speed of a serpent, the sweep of the tiger's claws. Who will come out the victor?"

They watched with held breath.

A laugh went down the line.

(Aikuro) "Unsurprisingly, nothing. It's only made it angry."

(Ryuko) "That blue leg's glowing pretty bright. Maybe he does still have the telekinesis? They're trying regular ammo, now."

A pained gasp went across the circle.

(Sanageyama) "He does."

(Ryuko) "Waaaay bloodier than at Kyoto."

(Aikuro) "I imagine the tank we gave them did not work out, then."

(Ryuko) "Wait - you gave them that tank?"

(Aikuro) "The tank at Kyoto, the reinforced armor at Osaka, and the magnetized sword at Tokyo. For all the good it did them."

(Gamagoori) "Why would you have stacked the deck against - oh. Right."

(Aikuro) "We'll take a nonviolent way when we can get it. We aren't -all- bad."

(Nui) "Unlike this brute!"

(Nonon) "Oh man. Why are they even trying to send the police in?"

A bout of laughter went across the circle.

(Ryuko) "Jeez. He always did like pork."

(Inumata) "I - could use without seeing the cannibalism, though."

(Gamagoori) "A leviathan has to eat. Just need to close your eyes for a few seconds when it finishes the killing."

A sharp gasp went down the line.

(Aikuro) "Oh, dear, he's caught sight of the news helicopter. This is the only feed close enough to see it, you know."

(Nui) "Outcasty, no!"

(Gamagoori) "He might miss his first throw, right?"

(Sanageyama) "The demon has his eye on the target."

(Gamagoori) "Is he - he's spinning like a shot putter. Surprised those claws don't rip that car open."

(Nonon) "Missed! It soared right past the heli - oh shit -"

(Ryuko) " - his telekinesis got way stronger, too."

The screen burst to static.

A series of disappointed groans went across the circle, as it did from the main lobby.

"Get back to work!" shouted Aikuro out the door, shaking his head with a wide smile. "I hope that lightened your spirits."

"It did." grinned Ryuko. "Still, we should probably discuss our next move. Do we know if Ragyo's dead?"

"Your boyfriend leaves no evidence, as you've seen - but, from the last eyewitness reports, it appears she's fled. The military has established a strict perimeter around the beast, and they'll attempt to keep it penned in with everything they have."

"… Yeah. Shit." muttered Ryuko. "Uh - I guess she'd probably have gone to REVOCS headquarters, taken a helicopter from there to her mansion. That's pretty far away from it. Looked like the headquarters were still standing, too."

"For all the strength of it, I doubt it would know where to go first. I'll keep you updated on the path of destruction as best as I can manage." said Aikuro, then murmured: "And attempt to find a new feed. I haven't seen the troops this excited in years."

"… Right." said Gamagoori, suddenly pensive and full of thought. "What's our plan for the next few days, then?"

Catching the time for entertainment had ended, Ryuko nodded and turned to Aikuro. "How long do you think Isshin will take to get here?"

"A week, at most. The man goes by Soyoki, now - most of Nudist Beach simply thinks he's a particularly good comrade of mine, one that I trust very deeply." He shook his head and laughed. "Simply a precaution against any infiltrators. Regardless, I have sent him the relevant design documents on Absolute Submission, alongside his own still-surviving notes on Satsuki's infusion. If there's a man in the world who can bring her back, it would be he."

Ryuko nodded, suppressing her grief deeper down. "… R-Right. We should be safe here for the next week, then."

"Correct. I shall come to you with any news."

And, with a smirk: "Or livestreams."

The slaughter had soothed them like none other. Terrorism really was magic.

* * *

The corridors of REVOCS headquarters flickered dimly, and rain dripped down the skyscraper. It jutted out from the landscape like a needle and was just as painful to the eyes as one.

The flow of primary power had been destroyed by the terror, and the razed district below was a burning monument to the demonic presence that had ripped through the lives of hundreds in days. Cracked marble and rubble of homes sat as dead as their former occupants. There was a quaint quality to this mass grave, where no bodies could be found, only outlines of blood.

The military had resigned to an unbreakable perimeter, rather than think the unthinkable and confront the beast head-on.

This dark creature loomed and crouched among the apocalyptic landscape, its armor splashed in red scales. Black tubules of lips belied pleasure, or whatever emotion the creature could still carry, and it strode on four feet ahead, dimly shrouded by the final lights of the skyscraper to which it was jaunting, enormous legs like an abomination of a horse.

Then from within the first floor of the skyscraper, the doors burst open as if pulled by the wind. Whatever monstrous presence and military, law and security that still stood within that doomed building were inviting it in.

They would soon meet a beast more savage than themselves.


	9. Chapter 9 - Cut

For the six heroes, so quickly cut down from eight, the week proved more exhausting than excitement. The training Ryuko had put them through was no less exhaustive than the month prior, and from what they could gather, the terror had rend, scattered, and shattered the luxury district's inhabitants to the four winds, rending through platoons in an instant. When a man stepped in to that green perimeter, it was a miracle if he did not lose his head a second later.

Yet the beast still contained some intelligence; it darted in and out of attempts to bait it, with demonic trickery. Projectiles had proven as useless as a straw against a charging bull, and thrown in to fear of the unknown, few were willing to face it head-on.

But in the underground chambers of Nudist Beach, two men - and one girl - were working on a single project, that Friday morning.

"Nui. How was this sewn?" muttered Inumata, tracing over Nui's discarded uniform, her upper and lower covered in a shirt and pants.

It had been a wonder to find women's clothing in that flamboyant base, and the shirt fit like a white garbage bag over her.

"Ooo! Now you're the one asking for tracking shit, Inumata-mata!" she preened, rocking the infirmary bed. "It's a simple -"

\- the steel doors opened, and in burst Ryuko.

"Inumata - Nui - meeting. Now."

"Does it need to -"

\- Inumata's blood froze as he turned to those piercing eyes, the woman now every bit of a drill sergeant as her sister. He quivered, then gestured vaguely to Aikuro.

"Hm." smirked Aikuro, shaking his head like a parent scolding a child. "I'll continue the experiment."

"My - my apologies, Lady Ryuko." murmured Inumata, as he and Nui followed the leader out to the corridor. As they drew closer to Gamagoori's room, what the six had decided as their impromptu discussion chamber, low murmurs could be heard, the tone of secretive planning. Ryuko opened the door, then sat at the head, as her sister had done before her.

She would never admit to enjoying the authority, no matter how horrible the circumstances.

"Speak." said Ryuko, gesturing to Gamagoori.

He shook his head as the two joined the four already sat. "I finally get to tell Inumata something, for once."

(Sanageyama) "Enjoy it."

(Gamagoori) "A few minutes ago, Ragyo finished a public appearance, announcing that her portion of the Cultural Arts Festival would no longer be televised, and that she had two 'special announcements' to be made."

"She's - still attending the Cultural Arts Festival, with all that's occurred?" said Inumata, shaking his head and wiping one set of analytical skills from his mind for another.

"There's that, too." muttered Ryuko. "Probably be some big sympathy party. She said that though she'd like to take the week off for grief, she knew it wouldn't be fair to the people who already paid for their tickets."

"Every shithead gets their own fanclub." said Nonon. "There's people online posting about how she's such a kind woman, because she's giving every REVOCS employee a month off without pay."

"First vacation days in five years." Ryuko muttered. "Still, we're just as stupid. It's an obvious trap - and she knows we have to take it. If we don't kill her there, she'll flee the country - and we'll never find her again. We'll end up fighting her goons for the rest of our lives."

A murmur of assent traveled through the room.

"We can't stay with Nudist Beach forever." said Gamagoori. "We all signed up for this, after all."

"Correct." said Inumata, the collective of their spirits raising in his voice. "Lady Ryuko - shall I formulate a redesigned version of our previous plans, then?"

"Yeah. We'll have to disguise ourselves - Nudist Beach has some plainclothes, wigs, stuff like that. We need to make sure our Specters are stronger than our old uniforms, too."

A nervous nod went through the circle.

"It - they should have their full power and attunement by now, fortunately." muttered Inumata, the false confidence in his voice again.

Ryuko nodded. "Right. Still, there's something we need to do, too. If we go through the front entrance, it's much riskier - anyone from Honnōji would be able to recognize us if we're with the crowd, disguises or not."

"Especially Gamagoori." muttered Sanageyama, shaking his head ruefully.

"The cons of being this wide…"

"Yeah." said Ryuko. "That's why I want you and Nui to stay here - in case something happens to Satsuki while we're gone Monday."

"What if someone tries to kidnap me again, Ryuko-ko?!"

"Who would want to kidnap you now?" said Nonon, then quickly gestured to Nui's scissor blades. "Uh - I mean, because of these! They wouldn't want to go near you."

"Um - yeah - that's why you get to stay here," chimed Ryuko cheerfully. "Thankfully, with Outcast in the luxury district, it should be an easier escape out of the arena. Ragyo said most of the directors are dead - I checked with the news, and… It could be a lie, but…"

"Let alone the vulnerability to Absolute Submission. It's a certainty she's taken Nui off the exceptions list, now."

"Ooo! Do I get a Specter?"

"Exactly what I interrupted." grinned Ryuko. "Aikuro can handle the rest of the process, right?"

"So long as Nui gives him all the information he requires. The only reason I could create the backups so quickly was because of the extensive testing we had performed with them on in the past years."

"Good. I did a bit of analysis on my own for how we're gonna get in, too." said Ryuko, pulling her phone out and setting it at the center of the table. Upon it, a picture of a balding man, his face wizened and portly. "He gave an interview earlier this morning - Kei Akiyama, one of the directors. He mentioned having to flee his home in the luxury district - a quick look through the tabloids, and I found the address to his second home in Osaka."

"Say no more." muttered Nonon, catching the trend of the imminent murder. "We get tickets, make sure our Specters are all good - and get to beat some skulls."

"Exactly." chimed Ryuko cheerfully. "We'll train for another two days, then you, me, Inumata, and Sanageyama will head out. I've got something special in mind with your orchestra, too."

"It's settled, then." murmured Sanageyama. "We shall kill Ragyo - to avenge Lady Satsuki, and to avenge Lady Ryuko."

The six nodded, safe in the knowledge that their squadron would end in six corpses, or one.

* * *

The daughter and her father were two passing trains that Sunday night. He was set to arrive the morning after Ryuko and the other three were set to leave, and though she wished desperately she could see her father before her possible death, as did he, she clung tightly to the intrinsic motivation it gave her to return.

Yet she needed no more than that, and her own anger.

The four stomped through Osaka's districts, their faces hooded like juvenile delinquents, a scowl and a sneer for every passerby. Along paved sidewalks, they passed by towering walls, the perimeter that had housed Osaka's academy and student district only a week prior. It had still not been rebuilt, and what former students they encountered on that late night were no less lost then than they had been in battle.

Ryuko was silently grateful they had not recognized their former opponents. She wore long black hair akin to Satsuki's, waving about her as if a flag marking the most beautiful woman in the world.

All around them were skyscrapers, dimly lit apartments, the last lights snuffed out in the windows, and an unyielding silence as they passed the nightlife behind. The four knew their target well.

The sidewalk underneath soon turned fresher paved, and the gaps between the buildings grew as their heights shrunk, making way for more personal and less cramped housing. They were coming close to their true target in the corridor of homes, where the sidewalks grew narrower, and the perimeters became gated. Near the end of the dead-end street, and on the opposite side of the road, lay the home for which they were searching.

As with Nui's home, it was a strangely modest affair. The mansion was two-floor, black and blue paint that melded with the night, and thick trees shrouded both the front and backyards. A tall fence wove around the perimeter, and a balcony with white columns extended around the second floor, that at last laid a protruding platform.

"No guards." murmured Ryuko, seeing nothing but dark windows.

"Front, or back?" replied Sanageyama, a white wig like a hair metal artist streaming down his shoulders.

"They'll figure us out if I play a single note." murmured Nonon, her pink hair now a brown as unassuming as any other.

"If they're expecting us - they'll have guards set at the back. Front." muttered Ryuko, coming with a gentle step to the front gate. "Nonon - don't play unless I order you to, or if we get spotted. Let's go."

"Yes, Lady Ryuko." muttered Inumata, black hair and blacker sunglasses.

A singular motion, four figures leaping and vaulting over the fence, and they hit the ground running; instantly they heard a chaotic calamity begin within the mansion, windows lit by flickering lamps, and with no time to waste, they shot like meteors over the pavement, running underneath marble columns and to the front door. A swift sweep from Sanageyama sliced the double doors in half, and as they entered through to the wide hall with golden chandeliers, it became clear that Ryuko's prediction had come true - on both accounts.

From the back of the mansion they heard doors slamming and opening, frantic bootsteps of men as they heard the invaders, and up the stairs shot the three like lightning. At their backs, Inumata stood stout at the bottom, the illusory phalanx riding with him once more as they formed to life, an impenetrable and identical wall of figures at the base of the circular stairs.

By the confused clamor she heard above, Ryuko knew that for all of Kei's preparation, he had not expected a front entrance. The three came to the second floor, a hall like the others and veered right, where two more corridors lay ahead and to their left. These were illumined by chandeliers and bore red carpets and walls, marble busts and statues, doors that were locked and closed.

"Sanageyama - left - Nonon - with me!" grunted Ryuko, shooting past the new doors as Sanageyama turned left, two frantic figures as they hacked the doors to bits. Alongside the conductor, Ryuko encountered a variety of rooms - bathrooms of silver, studies of great bookcases, filled to the brim with tomes that surely had never been read.

By the screaming of swords against knives she heard below, she knew a pitched battle was taking place, the rending and slashing of Specter against steel. She came to one casual door near the end of the corridor, and as she caught her breath barked a single order;

"Nonon - check on Inumata below!"

"Yes, Lady Ryuko!" shouted Nonon, rushing back the way they had came.

Again, as it had with the others, a dozen lacerations served to buckle the portal inward. Inside was a bedroom, a single affair with more bookcases strewn along the walls, and as she rushed to check behind the bed -

\- a portly figure leaped to her, and at the center of the room met obsidian and steel, sparks lighting angered faces. Kei's uniform was a black business suit, hastily put on and barely used, as if he had not expected to be found at all. His sword clashed with Ryuko's blades, the two snarling like animals as they met;

"Sanageyama!" grunted Ryuko, daring not to separate from the clash for a moment, "Found the worm!"

A single shout, echoing through the halls, cracking like lightning: "On it!"

With a yell, Kei separated again; he shot back as a black streak, seeking desperately the wide window at the end of the room - yet no matter how fast he ran, Ryuko was there again. The former speed and strength of her Kamui had returned to her in that unnatural and psychic armor, rushing to block his path so swiftly it was a wonder the books did not fly from their cases as if pulled by a tornado.

And her blades were no less swift. They carved and breached desperate blocks of a sword, cracking the metal with such ferocity the entire sword was nearly sundered in one strike; their blades clashed again. Inch by inch, the pressure of her strikes forced Kei further; he stumbled stupidly back over his bed, dodging sluggishly as he fell to the ground behind, vaulting to his feet just as quickly.

And Ryuko was among him with a rush and a gigantic bound. The blades sliced deep red valleys through the suit and licked crimson slits, and as Kei threw a final, desperate strike -

\- the obsidian spikes ejected from Ryuko's left shoulder and affixed his wrists to the walls. Crimson sprayed in a vicious geyser, painting her face the same shade of red as her hair. As the same mistake she had done only a month earlier, he thrashed violently about underneath the sudden counter. Torn skin and mangled fabrics ejected from his sleeves; yet bizarrely, his pace of writhing grew by the moment, as if -

"You're not fucking killing yourself." grunted Ryuko, and a swift bash of her obsidian hilts against his skull knocked him unconscious.

And from the door erupted a familiar samurai, his katana unsheathed in his bloodied grip, a steel that still dripped. He, too, had been engaged in battle.

"Where is -"

\- he paused, and stared stupidly at Ryuko for an instant.

"… Ah." he murmured, slightly flustered.

Ryuko couldn't help but laugh. "Check on Inumata and Nonon."

"Y-Yes, Lady Ryuko." murmured Sanageyama, and ran just as quickly out as he had in.

* * *

The battle was vicious, yet confirmed that the power of their Specters had returned. What few men under Kei's command had fallen like chaff, their corpses stuffed in to empty rooms. The police would write their own story on what had occurred once the four left the following afternoon.

Yet one matter had not been addressed, and it was to there their efforts were focused.

When Kei awoke, he was tied to his bed, undressed, with a scorching light above his features. He saw four black silhouettes with gleaming grins.

"The Elite Five." he grunted in the tone of a beaten animal, that would soon be mangled.

"Didn't even need all of us to kick your shit in." said Ryuko. "I'll make it simple - four of us - back entrance of Shizouka Stadium - tomorrow."

"You can either deal with us, or Outcast in the luxury district." grinned Nonon, pleased to have found such a portly target.

Kei's eyes shot open, then just as quickly shut. His face contorted in a bizarre mix of contemplation. He had seen the terror's path of destruction in person, but did not know what horrendous beast out of which it had spawned.

And just as quickly, he laughed, gasping on blood.

"Hoping to assassinate Ragyo while she makes her speech, then?"

"Precisely." muttered Inumata.

"That, and something else." grunted Ryuko, her blades hung precariously over Kei's wrists. "Why did Rei attack us? If she could mind control Satsuki - why not just pick us off one-by-one?"

Kei's eyes rolled. "Mind control? Do you think this is a comic book?"

"Wrong answer."

A single sweep, and a blade affixed Kei's right wrist to the bed; their four grins were painted crimson, and with a decisive strike down, Ryuko flayed a thin line of skin across; instantly Kei shrieked in pain and writhed like a mouse caught, and as Ryuko removed her blade -

\- a soothing melody began to close the wound.

"I -" he panted out, catching the trend of it quickly - "- all Ragyo told me was Rei would deal with your seven all at once - and now your eight, now that f-fucking couturier is with you."

"That's more like it." chimed Ryuko. "Why all at once, then? Absolute Submission doesn't have limited uses. She could have had Satsuki call us, one by one."

"Are you seeking a spot as strategist?" grunted Kei.

Again, a blade through his right wrist, gouging and tearing veins at a ferocious pace. The conductor's melody was as horrific as one untuned.

"F-Fine!" said Kei, gritting his teeth to keep from writhing. "Tomorrow - Shizouka Stadium. Do - whatever you want with her - though you'll be dead to Absolute Submission, regardless. If you have such a death wish, I'll escort the four of you to the back entrance."

"Much better." grinned Ryuko. "How many Life Fiber infused girls will be there?"

Kei raised his eyebrow, incredulous. "I - what? Life Fiber infused girls?"

His confusion set the rest flustered.

"I - the Life Fiber infused girls. The infants you infused with Life Fibers. White suits."

"I have no inkling what you speak of." muttered Kei, his eyebrows dipping. "My men handle kidnappings - they bring them to Ragyo's. I don't ask questions - and she promises it will be fruitful for all of us."

"He has no clue - on Lady Satsuki or other matters." muttered Sanageyama. "There's no need to give him more information, Lady Ryuko."

"… Yeah." grunted Ryuko, shaking her head, scattered theories forming.

"Pointless, regardless." said Kei. "The four of you will be dead to Absolute Submission, and the other four much the same."

A scattered theory formed a single point. "As if you could ever kill Satsuki." said Ryuko, shaking her head.

Just as quickly, her eyes widened. "… Wait. Kill her? If you can control her, why bother killing her?"

"Renewed orders. I received them just this morning - and your guess is as good as mine as to why." he commented wryly. "And I suppose I will never know - Ragyo will kill me for aiding you, or you'll kill me for aiding Ragyo."

"And my music makes my torture way worse." said Nonon. "Better think fast who you'll side with."

Ryuko shook her head. "When Satsuki and I inherit REVOCS, if you help us kill Ragyo - we'll spare you. We're immune to Absolute Submission - and you've seen how strong our uniforms are."

Sensing an imminent objection from the other three, she held her hand up. "No arguing with my orders."

"… Yes, Lady Ryuko." murmured Inumata.

"Rogues together, then." agreed Kei equably.

"Quiet."

* * *

The crowds were thick, packed to the gills at the front entrance to the stadium, which shone with rainbow lights around the horizontal.

And as expected, the back, only guarded, by men who did not know the plot they were aiding. They were clad in blue garb, stadium staff, stood in irregular positions on the paved lot that led to the back entrance of the stadium.

The five approached the perimeter's gate, and with a brief, discourteous exchange passed between Kei and the guard in the booth, the director more vicious with the lower than the upper class, they came through to the lattice pavement. The back entrance was shaped like the halve of a white dome, curves of paint that slid around the double doors.

"I told them you're extended family." grunted Kei, as if Ryuko's daggers were still at his back. "The rest won't arrive for another hour. I hope you've brought something to entertain yourselves."

"Don't push it." muttered Ryuko, as they came through the doors and passed to the hall each had memorized over the years. They saw that this was still empty, and once the doors had closed behind, they rushed to one casual door and threw themselves in to the room beyond, one of the chambers they had memorized only last month. There were ivory couches and gold-trimmed mirrors along the walls, and velvet curtains between.

Ryuko shut the door behind. Something in the way her head bowed caused Kei to watch her sharply.

"Of course, if any of the rest of the directors - what few are left - catch sight of you four, they'll know immediately - disguise or not." He shook his head warily. "I can't very well claim Ryuko as my niece in front of her own mother, after all. Good luck on your success - for my sake. I shall stay here, and once I've heard your success, will make my own escape."

"Of course. We'll sit in the front row, of course." muttered Inumata, scraping his knife with his suit.

"Yep." grinned Nonon, the orchestra at her back.

"Correct." grunted Sanageyama, his scabbard ringing with the katana unsheathed.

Catching the trend of it, Kei closed his eyes, and sank limply back in to the couch.

"… Of course."

"You didn't think I was actually gonna let you live, did you?"

Instantly there began a swift and short flurry of blades - knives - katana - a single burst of a chaotic note, and the man was dead before he could stand to accept it; torn, gashed, mangled, and bleeding from a score of wounds both old and new, his torso cleaved in half so his chest slid off from his legs.

"Easy enough." chimed Ryuko. "Inumata, did you bring the straws?"

"Of course, Lady Ryuko." said Inumata, and pulled them from the breast pocket of his suit. He handed these to Ryuko, who clenched her fist around and ensured they appeared a similar length, and with a wild grin under her eyes, drew one at random for herself.

The other three repeated the same, and as they glanced over the others' -

\- they breathed heavy sighs of relief, and Ryuko, a groan.

"Looks like it's Lady Ryuko." grinned Nonon. "We'll find some other room to wait in, and you get to deal with hiding the body."

"How did I even lose?" muttered Ryuko, shaking her head ruefully as the others shuffled out behind her.

She was silently grateful her mother's corpse would not require the same care.

* * *

The three heroes, Tsumage, Gamagoori, and Aikuro, stood outside of the steel chamber, nestled so deeply within the base that it had taken fifteen minutes of walking to reach it. Further up the corridor were guards lining the walls, their demeanors stoic. They knew their task was important, but knew not to ask questions why.

The guards were not even aware it was Isshin, the wizened man who had passed by them with Satsuki and Nui in tow. In his youth, he was recognizable by the orange gleam of his hair that billowed about him, and in age, by the white rays that still shone in the light. Before he had prepared for surgery, he had requested Nui as his assistant. A woman composed of both Life Fibers and flesh required couturier and surgeon.

From within the chamber aside, the three heard the sound of rattling. Gamagoori, gazing listlessly at the wall adjacent, shot to his feet at the sudden sound, his eyes as wide as the others'. The past hour had filled with many hopes, and as it had each time, it was only the jostling of some instrument or another. The mad surgeon and mad couturier were hard at work.

By the murmuring beyond the walls, they knew he and the imp were speaking, but could not make out the trend of the conversation, so quiet were they mumbling and so reinforced was the chamber.

Gamagoori slumped against the wall again.

"They - should be done soon. Right?"

"Right." muttered Tsumage, nodding to add to the confidence. "He is not a man who minces words. If it were a failure, he would come outright and state it. That the two are still hard at work in there shows that there is a chance for survival."

There was a strange and comforting logic to the man's words.

"Correct." murmured Aikuro. "If anyone can do it, it would be those -"

\- an alarm raised through the complex, and the three immediately roused to action, unsheathing their devices and ability just as quickly. The noise rung like a lightning bolt and rapidly switched pitches between high and low, and the guards turned to three heroes in deference.

"An attack. Of course - they must have discovered the others have left." said Aikuro over the uproar. "Gamagoori - guard the entrance to this corridor with the others. If the situation turns dire, tell our surgeons to prepare for transport."

"On it." grunted Gamagoori, the kraken's tendrils surrounding his body like the petals of a fierce rose.

He would kill a hundred for that woman, and sink the ship of a hundred more. The violence from his adolescence had never left him.

* * *

The entrance to the stadium was guarded, but had proved easy to negotiate. What was inside the walls was what was to be feared.

The applause rang in their ears like the tolling of church bells, an adulation for the rich and powerful of the world. They were sat near the front of the rows and lines of seats, bordered with a VIP section that each had noted with a laugh was far less populated than the last Cultural Arts Festival. They joined alongside the applause with the rest, so as to not reveal the ruse.

And from within the double doors below, like an apparition come to life, she was there. Her gray robe, tattered in a mock display of stress, billowed about her like Sanageyama's cloak, her features no less ghastly than before. She appeared to glide across the ground as she crushed bare grass underneath, snaking with a narcissistic demeanor as she waved to her adoring fans in the audience.

Ryuko bowed her head in a fake deference, and in a shrouded glance, noted that the president had no followers left, that strode with her on that grass. She would be in good company with her assistant soon enough.

In a slow, exaggerated display, Ragyo swept her fingers around a microphone. Her voice cracked, and her grip curled, like bones set to break.

"Good evening, darlings!" shouted Ragyo, her hair seeming to fill the arena in that bizarre rainbow light. Ryuko felt as if she were in a surreal painting, the crying cheers and shouts for a woman so monstrous, who was dead walking. Wealth wiped away all sins.

"We, at REVOCS, hope you are all well, after the terrible monster tearing through the luxury district!"

A low murmur of assent flew through the crowd, as if she could hear them.

"The police and military are still not certain from where the beast has come, but there is no longer any fear to be had, under the diligent work of REVOCS' scientists!"

Ryuko's eyes grew wide. Her heart pounded like a mallet against her chest as she saw Ragyo sweep her hands in a bombastic display to a nearby screen, tall enough that all in the arena could see. An image flashed to life upon it, and the tension came as one sharp gasp.

The feed appeared as if it were live, and the screen was two angles of the same scene. Ryuko saw on the left what appeared to be the main lobby of REVOCS, taken from the upper right corner of some tremendous enclosure. There were chains of a durable metal set along the floor, and as her eyes adjusted with the brightening of the video, Ryuko stifled a shriek.

A dark, monstrous silhouette was laid against the walls of this prison, pressing its body like a wounded hound against the chains. Thick claws extended from misshapen, bloodied and crusted hands. Its limbs were bowed back above its maw, extending like a mangled eel as it tried to bite weakly through the encapsulating links. Crimson splashed across its features, black blood boiling like a mangled cauldron and pooling underneath its legs.

"The obsidian terror, tamed! What a horrific sight! He had taken over a thousand in his wake, and my daughters and the Elite Five were injured in the struggle, to say nothing of the terrible loss of life - but now, REVOCS has ended our nightmare! It is chained like a feral dog at REVOCS headquarters, and not a single drop of power will be left with it, once our scientists have finished their examination of it. The newest line will be formed from its pelt!"

The arena dulled to low silence. None dared to be the first to speak, and their faces were pitched in shock as they stared, blankly, comprehending slowly both Ragyo's words and sight.

A single clap cracked, which was followed by another. An exponential display, the whole stadium shot to their feet, cheering roars as loud as the beast that had been captured. Dazed and confused, the four heroes stood with hatred. Their rage was a bond between the four, their captured comrade a tether that chained them tighter than any rope.

"Now?" muttered Inumata over the uproarious applause of the crowd.

"There were two announcements." replied Ryuko. "After."

Sanageyama grit his teeth, clenching his seat as he sank back. He wished to erupt in to the field and kill the dishonorable coward now, to see her body sliced, gashed and mangled, torn and ripped.

Yet none burned brighter than Ryuko. A thousand years could not enact the entirety of her vengeance. Her mother was a conduit for every drop of boiling blood that coursed in her veins, gripping the hated countenance of the woman in her mind with the ferocity of a starving but cornered beast. Her eyes gleamed with intensity, her Specter ready to execute, as she saw that devil incarnate sweep herself across the field, and begin to sashay back to the door from where she had entered.

"But of course, I would not leave so suddenly with no good reason, darlings!" she shouted to these husks in the crowd, these simulacrums and vampires that coated the seats with their barely-human visages, their eyes in adoration for so ghastly, so skeletal, so horrific a woman that would soon look a skinless corpse. "There is a secondary matter, that REVOCS alone is attending to!"

Ryuko froze in her seat. She saw the woman discard her microphone as she strode back to the doorway, the tin of the metal on the grass, the piercing voice, the eyes that now stared directly at the four seated so quaintly only feet above.

"The death of Nudist Beach."

And she was gone through the double doors.

Instantly the four shot to their feet; they vaulted over the waist-high barrier, a jade, white, black, and red streak as they smashed against the ground. The portal buckled inward as a swift sweep from Ryuko sliced it in half, chasing like a feral dog after the devil that was now facing her at the other end of the hall. She ran as a meteor past the doors she knew well, the corridor wide, with many entrances and exits.

"Desperate Hallucinations!" shouted Inumata behind. By sound and sparks lit at her back, she knew a pitched battle was taking place behind her, the rending and slashing of claws and blades.

"Kiwami Overdrive!"

"Sovereign Symphony!"

She heard another door burst open behind her, and knew it to be opponents against Sanageyama and Nonon. The conductor required protection for her work, and began to play a raging melody like the thrash of waves against rocks as she sank back in to a chokepoint, a tremendous thunderstorm that sped their movements and gave them strength. The ambush was planned, the final directors clashing like men on their last legs in these halls, and as Ryuko rushed to the final destination still waiting -

\- at the center of the corridor they shot and clashed, Ragyo's nails screaming against obsidian blades, a tremendous display of sparks lighting their faces grit as tightly as their mutual glares. Around them the battle erupted in to calamity, Ryuko's guard pouncing their foes and clashing much the same, the tearing and rending of a fiendish battle.

"I told you before!" shouted Ryuko as she craned Ragyo's back underneath immense might, "I'll wring your fucking corpse like a dishrag!"

In a whirlwind of blows and gray tatters they revolved around the corridor, the next flurry of strikes from Ryuko's blades penetrating far deeper than the last. The jagged edges gouged and cut, and the obsidian licked crimson slits.

No matter how ferocious or nimble Ragyo had appeared before, the unexpected strength of Ryuko's Specter and the failure of Absolute Submission was wreaking havoc on her senses. Inch by inch, she was forced further down the corridor, an eruption of vengeance carrying through in to Ryuko's strikes; her nails chipped as she threw a desperate series of blocks, and no sooner than they met with Ryuko's blades did a horrific hailstorm of jade spikes perforate Ragyo's skin and flay her flesh in thick chunks.

"Pathetic! Pathetic! Pathetic!" shouted Ryuko.

She kicked Ragyo to the wall, a deep crater left in the steel, and in the next instant she was rushing at her again. Her dripping blades had pierced and gouged enough crimson and Life Fibers to kill a dozen women, and still, her foe was fiercely attempting to stop the steady flow of blows. Nails and gray tatters flew about as mangled fabrics, and as Ryuko craned Ragyo's right wrist against the wall to prepare for crucifixion -

\- the ghoul's grip shot to Ryuko's left - it snapped her wrist back, and thrown in to pained confusion by the sudden counter, Ryuko's fingers dropped a blade to the ground - it was pilfered within an instant, and thrashing like a boar Ragyo broke free of the remaining grasp. Now it was Ryuko set on the defensive again, obsidian and obsidian scraping against each other with a screech every bit as horrific as the one the conductor was putting on the other end of the corridor.

Ranketsu's eyes swept underneath every single strike. Ranketsu's wearer swept underneath every single strike.

Before Ryuko could realize what had occurred, she was being cornered as viciously as a shark, and the gray animal smelled blood in the water with each mangled strike. The pressure and swiftness of blade and nails forced Ryuko further and further down the hall; her foe was seeking to catch Ryuko against a wall, to slice her throat or neck open, and as Ragyo thrust the obsidian dagger against Ryuko's chest -

\- a series of obsidian spikes drilled through the whites of Ragyo's eyes, spraying white and red on the walls. As a blind animal, she screamed and thrashed violently about, dropping the pilfered blade at her side as she shot and sputtered. Blood and white fluid streamed down the tunnels to her skull. Life Fibers like frayed roots cracked from her gray robe, and once more, Ryuko was seeking to paint her face red.

In an inferno of blades and nails they clashed again, but the blindness of the woman was underlining her inevitable fate. The maneuver had left Ragyo staggered; she stumbled, writhing, tripping and assuring her balance with blind hands and slicing in drunken circles, yet not a force in the world would prevent Ryuko from feasting.

In a swift and singular movement, Ryuko shot like a tornado around Ragyo; she butchered her blades deeply against her back, and in one, decisive, violent swoop, she lopped the woman's head clear from her shoulders. Blood like acid rain sprayed from the stump of her neck, which coated Ryuko's face and blinded her in searing red. She ripped Ragyo's bloodied head from where it had fallen, down the body of the woman like a mangled ball down a hill.

The rainbow light in her hair deadened. Her limbs sank, and became rigid.

Ryuko's revenge had been consummated.

A far different liquid cleared a path down her cheeks, a red sheathe coated her limbs. Her anger burst out in loud yells, forcing the jade nails with single stomps in to every exposed wound where her blades and spikes had perforated. Fat and flesh cratered in hideous contortions, Ragyo's skin as portals being whisked away and degloved.

Through vision no less blind, a berserk haze clouded Ryuko's eyes. She swept away the crimson paint, clipping Ragyo's head with a single obsidian spike to the back of Ranketsu, like a horrific trophy.

At her back, she heard screams that were not of her squadron; she turned, and the dogs were running, corpses limp and scattered, terrified of the same spectacle occurring, their loyalty to the woman washed away in the face of a death so horrific. By a triangular sweep of his katana, Sanageyama decapitated a director by the shoulders, the arms and head lolling by single veins, mirroring on to his foe almost the same grisly fate the terror had performed to Sanageyama.

The loyalists were running - staggered, the last of the directors melting, wilting and slamming directly in to the blue phalanx, upon which the clones trampled and trudged, flickered and stabbed, midnight black gloves flashing red knives.

But there was no time to celebrate. The final loyalists were still marching upon Nudist Beach, and as four, joyous but anticipatory figures, the heroes made their escape through one of the exits, and disappeared as red sheathes in to the night.

* * *

The scene when they arrived was one of utter cacophony. The lower decks were packed to the gills with men, half-nude and bloodied, stepping ankle high in the dead and the freshly killed, corpses of both friend and foe smattering the floor like a field of crimson weeds. When a man went down he did not get up underneath the stomping boots and whirling blades. Ragyo's men were fighting their last battle with foes that had spent their entire lives preparing for it.

But superior strength counted too. At the corridor where Satsuki was held was the fiercest battle of all, the kraken set to burst, his tendrils snipped from him like a bird with no wings, crusted and painted in blood. A dozen men were at his feet, not all of them foe, but he was being pushed further and further back to the entrance, swords and knives seeking desperately to quell the beast that proved far more resilient than the nudists.

Ryuko and the three ran down the stairs over dotted corpses, dehydrated dead where the devices had claimed their victims, and at the center of it all and weaving their bodies between the knives were Aikuro and Tsumage, panting like feral dogs in a fight that would not let them be exhausted. In an instant Ryuko carved to pieces their assailants - but like the hydra they were attempting to save, another dozen would rise again. If they were not quick in their movements, they would be trapped in an endless battle. They were rushing, carving red carpets in new layers as they ran to the behemoth, who was still pitched in a fierce battle.

The conductor's melody screeched in their ears as she ran - the men were weakened, but not yet deadened. No amount of support could match the difference between the two groups, the loyalists with their black garbs and uniforms. They swept a red line, the pressure forcing the squadron to fight; a hallucination felled a dozen men in single swipes, and still, more men were pouring through the entrance which Ryuko and the others had shot through - seeing a single opening like a hallway of blood, they rushed to Gamagoori, who was engaged in battle against ten.

Sanageyama's blade spattered blood and left a wake of writhing figures behind him - then they were through the milling mob.

Quickly, Gamagoori gestured for the rest to follow him - then they were smashing and shoving through the corridor where Satsuki was held and shouting for the nudists to cover their retreat, the slash of swords against bare flesh ringing in their ears as they ran. By an almost too gentle hand Gamagoori threw the door open. Inside were the couturier and Isshin, working as fast as they could - they saw Isshin had made a deep incision through Satsuki's spine, skin like a gash peeled back, and Nui was sewing a red ball of Life Fibers through the discs.

"We need to go, Isshin!" shouted Gamagoori over the ruckus that was growing closer by the second.

With no perturbation in his step, Isshin rushed to the opposite wall, working with his hands just as quickly as he had in the surgery. He pushed one casual section back, and the entire wall melted to an adjacent, hidden chamber. Nui scooped the yarn in her hands as the precious artifact it was. The patient had barely survived one cut - she would not survive a second.

"The path here leads beyond the grate -" said Isshin, as a suddenly loud, horrific, ear-piercing screech scraped their ears.

By way of another wall that melted like the other they made their way to a steel bridge that curled left and led outside, nestled in a strategic spot against the outer workings of the main grate, which as they rushed out as seven, was now peeling back, the ringing of fighting from within still piercing the air. With a throw of his hands behind, the hidden way closed, and they ran further to the extension placed precariously over the water, the beach air hitting their faces, parked at a dangerous height.

"This platform will allow us to board the back entrance - when the damnable thing is here!" shouted Isshin, a brief lull that at any moment could be pierced with another bout of fighting.

And on the horizon, their salvation was fast approaching. A black ark the likes of which the six had never seen before was approaching like a widening speck on the horizon, cutting through the waves and the tides. As it approached, Gamagoori suppressed a gasp, as did Inumata, at the sheer size of the beast. An aircraft carrier would have looked as a child next to an adult.

The beast was as wide as its engines could carry, as tall as the grate would allow, and as it began to approach, the fighting within the base began to turn to preassigned positions where its west and east bridges would drop, a third at the back, a flat and slanted ramp higher than the others, for just such an escape. It smashed like a true kraken, bending and twisting the remainder of the grate in its wake, like a naval battering ram; then from its head, two narrow bridges lowered, and the seven and their comatose cargo pressed through to the back bridge, steel floors and walls closing behind them.

They rushed with flying feet down the ramp, which lowered to the back deck of the ship.

There were a series of enclosures and rooms at the center of the front and back decks, streaming scores of new men to the front entrances; the navigation sat at the tip of this tower, these black rooms with clear windows. They saw that these were a mile long, and with a hand at Nui's back to assure her swiftness, Isshin began to rush to the center like a man possessed; but sensing that there was no time for the journey, he paused suddenly, and resolved to resume the surgery.

"See to the front - if a single man gets through to here, even I can't save her. Gamagoori, stay by our side in case any stragglers break through, or find the hidden entrance at the back." said Isshin, as calm as a lake and his hands with no quiver as the couturier and surgeon set to their work again.

The milling mob ahead was perilous, packed with men again; but if Ragyo's army were fighting their last battle previously, they were truly fighting in death ground now. Their faces, shrouded by black masks, were covered and coated in nudist blood, shoving the men overboard on the bridges as they trudged, and the stockpile of devices was rapidly dwindling. No matter how ferociously they fought, the nudists had no chance without their counters; they were being scattered, slaughtered, routed. An undressed sight could not stand against a dressed.

"Inumata - left - Sanageyama, right!" shouted Ryuko, rushing like a madwoman to the right bridge, where a score of men attempting to board were carving their way through. She threw herself in to the fray, slashing and hacking in a whirlwind of madness, but even she could scarcely stand for more than a few seconds on that doomed entrance. The seas were running red, and what nudists were still left outside the boat were leaping to climb as if their lives depended on it. As well, die beneath the currents than beneath the blade.

An uproarious roar rang from the center of the ship, and sensing the imminent departure, Ryuko and the squadron retreated from that inferno of blades; she saw Aikuro and Tsumage leap at the last second, and vault themselves over the black walls of the ship and on to the end of the bridge, but another set of figures were hot at their heels.

Their foes knew that if they lost their targets here, the president they still believed to be alive would have them killed; they were leaping with far more ease, landing in a licking of blades, as the last hundred men and women of their kind erupted in to battle against the last thousand. There could not have been a more mismatched fight; even the elite squadron were being pushed back, foot by foot, leaving a floor of corpses upon which the men trampled.

They broke through - the nudists fell back as a single red and final line, but now carving their way to the center of the ship, were a group of masked, feminine figures like the ones the terror had cannibalized. Ryuko shuddered, knowing them to likely be Life Fiber infused girls, but fought them like they were men all the same. Only six were left, but only six would be needed, and the rest of the soldiers would handle the rest of the nudists with ease.

And at the back of it all, one battle was going far poorer than the rest, if it could be believed. The conductor had no protection but from the nudists; with Inumata, Sanageyama, Ryuko engaged in their own clashes, she was a sheep fearing shearing. Her orchestral beat paralyzed the single woman making her way to her, but now another rose up, skipping the crowd altogether in a single bound. A divided mind could not maintain an equal battle; she was forced further and further to the wall against the duet slaughtering their way through.

If the three were only even with the girls with the support of the conductor, they would be straw in their hands without it. Before she realized it, the prey had been backed against the wall, and as one predator drew her blade back -


	10. Chapter 10 - Don't Lose Your Way

"Junketsu! Beam!"

\- too quickly for the sight to follow, two rays like spotlights in a night sky impaled through Nonon's foes - their bodies burnt to ash, and out of the cloud of smoke rushed a familiar figure, her sword unsheathed in her bloodied grip.

It was a wonder Nonon did not burst in to tears.

Junketsu's form had changed, the woman who wore it a radiant figure who stood like a beacon. Where a formerly white left gauntlet had shone, now a blue glow crackled. Where the formerly white back had attached like a spine to Satsuki's own, rose the red rising sun. Where the formerly golden epaulettes had lay, jade spikes. Where the stalks had stood like stout oaks, now stood stouter tendrils. Where the sword was single and straight before, it was a trio now, a dip in the steel of the side blades, and like a hallucination it sheathed back in to one single familiar shape.

"Nonon! Support!" shouted Satsuki, her voice cracking like a whip as Nonon huddled at her savior's back. She was always the woman's biggest fan.

The soothing melody passed like a stream of wind, gliding through the air and entering the ears of all throughout the arena; for the nudists and the six, with Nui almost at their heels, as beautiful music that lightened their step; for the soldiers being cut like wheat against chaff, death knells. Their ranks were being reduced; the unexpected appearance of Satsuki butchering like a white, blue, red, green, and crimson nightmare wreaking havoc with their senses.

"LADY SATSUKI." droned Junketsu in its robotic tone, now audible to all, "I AM DETECTING A HIGH CONCENTRATION OF VERMIN IN THIS AREA. RECOMMENDATION: EXTERMINATION."

"I couldn't agree more."

Her Life Fibers alongside the Specter was an untold power their foes could not hope to match, her swiftness slicing to pieces a dozen ranks of the final soldiers in an instant. At such times accustomed habits sway men and women strongly, and motivated but disciplined by the appearance of their leader again, the hallucinations tackled a female foe; she was butchered, killed by a slash to her throat. The second, a keen blade pierced through her heart. The third, a score of lashes that her body could not heal before death by a thousand cuts. The fourth, a three-pronged sword, stabbed through her brain and eyes.

The rest of the ranks were running, scattered; they vaulted over the walls as fast as their last legs could carry, and threw themselves overboard. As well, die beneath the current than beneath the blade.

In an instant, the battle was over. The men at their backs, what dozens were left, Tsumage, Aikuro, and Isshin, cheered like sailors, and the ship cast out to an infinite expanse of blue.

* * *

The conductor, as well as Isshin, had worked unpaid overtime for the hour after the battle. The corpses of friend and foe, now thrown overboard, dotting the sea like landmines, were trailing behind. The nudists were communist men and women, truly red, with no need for a funeral. They would be remembered through life, celebrated, and not mourned in a gaudy display.

And when the fervor had finally died down, the nine, but not fully eight, sat within a chamber deep below the decks. The sisters' father could not stay for long, but neither could they.

"I - I still can't believe you're back." said Ryuko, seated next to the wizened figure at the table, a three-pronged embrace, a familial love for which no words were needed. Tears crested down her cheeks, as they mirrored along her sister's, on the father's. There was not a dry eye in the room.

"It - I can't put in to words how good it - is to see the both of you safe."

"And with such lovely cargo." said Aikuro, gesturing to the decapitated head of Ragyo that lay at the center of the table.

"You've turned out just as violent as we." said Isshin, shaking tears from his eyes. "But I cannot blame you - for what she did to you two, the fate might be too good."

"Y-Yeah." sobbed Ryuko. "I - I wanted to drag it out, to make her suffer every last bit of it, but… W-We had to get going."

"A-And we cannot celebrate it, yet." said Satsuki. A lifetime as the stoic had not prepared her for the emotion. "You've told me t-that - there is still one last mission."

"There's no - no time to delay." muttered Inumata, unable to clench his emotions. "The leviathan is still captive. If Ragyo's scientists can - create some form of it that is bound to their will, not even a thousand Specters can stop it."

"Precisely what I was always afraid of." muttered Aikuro. "I hope you do not dislike me for destroying the last of our data on Specters, once we were attacked."

"Not at all." said Inumata, deep wounds of stress across his brow. "We've - seen first hand how it reacts with Lady Satsuki's Life Fibers." he said with a tear-soaked smirk, attempting to lighten the mood.

"Y - Yes." murmured Satsuki, thrown in to leadership so suddenly after her coma. The situation was like cobwebs on her brain, and she had only just begun to clear them. "I - we shall defer to Ryuko on this. You have more knowledge of the situation."

"The eldest no longer has any precedent." grinned Isshin. "Still - I - am required in the infirmary."

The two women stood, alongside their father, and shared a final embrace. There was only time for action, and the time to know the man was not now.

He stepped out the door, and he was gone.

Aikuro threw his hands up. "The man makes each of us cry, and then leaves. That'll equal one, if not two, embarrassing stories told to his daughters, certainly."

"L-Later." said Ryuko with a hopeful smile. "Just - need to rescue Outcast."

Aikuro nodded, wiping the last set of tears away. "Certainly. For all that have died, we cannot let their sacrifice be in vain. They would come back and kill me themselves if I allowed it."

"Correct." muttered Satsuki.

Ryuko turned to one figure, who had been mysteriously silent, in an uncharacteristic display.

"… Hey, um, Nui… Are you alright?"

The cyclops shot to life. "Ooo! As good as ever, Ryuko-ko."

"She finally speaks." said Gamagoori, shaking his head in sync with Sanageyama and Nonon.

"Did the - Specter take?" said Inumata, gesturing to Aikuro.

"It certainly did. Isshin's performed some slight modifications on Satsuki and Nui's Life Fibers, as well - the Specter will now keep them safe from Absolute Submission's mind control."

"And it's so fashionable, too!" said Nui, preening and showing off her newest dress. Above the frills was a single fearsome eye, vertical like a serpent's, a pink pupil that followed the viewer no matter where they went.

"Er… Yeah. We're - matching, right?" said Ryuko, shaking her head with a laugh.

(Satsuki) "I still do not know why she is with us."

(Ryuko) "It's… Let's talk about what we'll do, first. We can tell you everything on the way over."

"Of course." nodded Satsuki, comprehending none of this. "Quite a sight to wake up to, however. Gamagoori was shouting at me that she was a friend now, and he would explain it all, but to resist the urge to kill the girl who had just saved my life. To be honest, I thought I had died and gone to some bizarre mix of hell and heaven, but there were far too few women praising me for the latter."

Nonon laughed a nervous laugh. "It makes even less sense once you know it. Still, what are we gonna do?"

"Making me work overtime after such heated battles, apparently." said Inumata, shaking his head. "Incredible, incredible, incredible violation of labor laws. Fortunately for me, and unfortunately for us, there was very little to be found. They are still keeping a strict military perimeter around the luxury district, and REVOCS headquarters is currently the only building left standing."

"They can't be stupid enough to think REVOCS is keeping it there for altruistic reasons, right?"

"It's likely a dual arrangement, by now. They assume REVOCS has no way to control the beast, and simply have kept in chains, with no wish to disturb it. Remember - none know of the Life Fiber infusions but the scientists working on it."

"… Right." muttered Ryuko, worry not showing in her tone. "If they can manage to infuse him with Life Fibers…"

"Precisely - or worse."

"I - I still think he - won't hurt me. When we go there, we need to be careful not to… make it think that we're going to hurt it."

(Gamagoori) "Our Specters should form before any damage is done, right? We could keep them sheathed."

"What an odd property." said Inumata, who until last week, had worn mystical clothing that gave him super speed, strength, and eleven clones. "Perhaps there's some sentience to them."

"Don't be ridiculous." muttered the cyborg samurai.

(Ryuko) "I agree. Still, we're going to… We'll try to take a helicopter over the perimeter. They shouldn't have anything to take us out from there - they're expecting a ground target, anyway. I - don't know how we're going to get out with it, though. Even bribery isn't going to save us if they think we're helping the obsidian terror. We need to break it out, try to heal it, at the least."

(Inumata) "Fortunately, the only murders done out of our disguises were Outcast and Nui's. If - a-ah - once he changes to normal, they won't be able to recognize him as the terror, and Nui's red carpet was at our bunker."

(Nui) "A strategic location for murder!"

"And torture, apparently." shuddered Inumata. "Regardless, Ragyo furnished a story of us being injured while fighting the terror, and that should prove well enough as our alibi, underneath the grief of two sisters losing their mother."

(Ryuko) "That's gonna be really hard to act - but whatever. Consequences are for poor people."

(Inumata) "Tsumage disposed of Rei's body, as well. They'll presume she went missing alongside the rest of the luxury district."

(Aikuro) "He only recognized it by the sunglasses."

(Satsuki) "If worst comes to worst, we shall buy eight pardons, or threaten to drop the market out on Life Fibers. REVOCS controls at least 90% of it - we could crash every economy in the world overnight."

"The perks of the rich, with no anti-monopoly laws." said Gamagoori, shaking his head.

(Sanageyama) "We could also say we slew the obsidian terror ourselves. Announce that to the country, and the whole nation will think we're heroes."

"There's a lot of stories we can tell. We'll figure it all out later - but right now, let's finish this one." said Ryuko, relevantly.

And the eight, which were not yet fully eight, heroes nodded.

* * *

The helicopter of Nudist Beach was a vessel as rugged as the organization that had stolen it. Under Aikuro's suggestion, it had been painted as a medical helicopter, though it was unlikely any military would dare stop the headlong suicide mission in to the no man's land of that perimeter.

The seven were sat within the helicopter for their longest journey yet, and the razed ruin was still not on the horizon. Upon their faces were the black masks, a final disguise, that said simply: "N.B.".

Bizarrely, Nudist Beach's helicopter was far more spacious than their last. The behemoth finally had leg room.

[This dialogue is skippable, but there's a few jokes. They're getting Satsuki up to speed.]

(Gamagoori) "What do you want to ask first, Lady Satsuki?"

(Satsuki) "Dozens, and dozens of questions. I suppose it's fortunate we have the time for it. Relay to me the events that occurred - my last memory prior to my awakening was Rei's fingers entangling around my neck. It's all black from there."

(Nui) "Ooo! She died so easily, too."

(Inumata) "Absolute Submission - ah, as is my understanding, wrapped around your own Life Fibers and took control of your mind. Do you remember Outcast fighting with Rei?"

(Satsuki) "Of course."

(Inumata) "Under Absolute Submission's control, you fought with him. I'll - admit that you nearly killed him, though his telekinesis sufficed to buy enough time for…"

(Nui) "Me! I sliced Rei like a studded pig!"

(Satsuki) "The expression is stuffed pig."

(Nui) "Don't be silly, Sat-Sat-Satsuki!"

(Satsuki) "… Continue."

(Ryuko) "Absolute Submission destroyed all our uniforms, too."

(Nui) "Inumata-mata was such a basket case!"

(Gamagoori) "We all were. We thought both you and Outcast were dead, Lady Satsuki."

(Inumata) "My - stress was entirely justified. Fortunately, as you might remember, Lady Satsuki - you had given me the month off to research Outcast. In that time, I created - I suppose - backups of our uniforms in the same format as his power."

(Nui) "A true fashionista!"

(Ryuko) "There's the One-Star district, below. Wonder who moved in to Outcast's old house."

(Satsuki) "As I recall, some girl with a face like a globe and a light brown bowl cut. Continue, Inumata."

(Inumata) "Nui joined with the leviathan to protect me in retrieving these samples. It - was quite a bloody sight, admittedly."

(Nui) "We killed so many people! Outcasty was such a good partner!"

(Ryuko) "… Yeah, he is. We - had to spend half an hour scraping the bodies off the walls."

(Satsuki) "No less than what Ragyo's goons deserve."

(Nui) "Ooo! Sat-Sat-Satsuki gets it!"

(Satsuki) "One thing is not apparent to me, however. Why did Nui join with us?"

(Ryuko) "She, uh… Do you want to explain it, Nui?"

(Nui) "Nope! Go ahead, Ryuko-ko!"

(Ryuko) "… Uh. Right. So, Nui's parents got killed by - I guess it'd be someone from REVOCS, but Ragyo told her it was Nudist Beach."

(Satsuki) "An oddly familiar story."

(Ryuko) "That's what I thought, too. I guess - uh, chronologically… Nui got stolen out of the crib, and when she was an infant, somebody infused her with Life Fibers. But since dad destroyed his research, they…had some side-effects."

(Nui) "My right eye, lost in the wind… And my dwarfism…"

(Satsuki) "I… I thought she had lost it in a sewing accident."

(Ryuko) "I should've guessed Ragyo was lying to us about that, too. She told Nui they were birth defects."

(Nui) "But when I was thirteen, for my birthday, Ragyo let me torture a Nudist Beach operative myself!"

(Ryuko) "He swore they didn't do it, which was weird, because he was willing to admit to everything else they've done over the years. Eventually, they started exchanging information, and Nui found out yesterday what had really happened."

(Satsuki) "I - Nui is - how old are you, Nui?"

(Nui) "Fourteen!"

(Satsuki) "… Bizarre. I had thought she would be eighteen or older. Like you, Ryuko, as you are definitely able to consent to sexual acts."

(Ryuko) "That's right."

(Nonon) "Yeah. Uh - I guess we're getting out of order. The second checkpoint's coming up soon."

(Gamagoori) "Back to what happened after the leviathan and Nui returned with Inumata, then. He injected us with the treatment. Stung like hell, but we got it."

(Inumata) "However, we were still not accustomed to the ability. Ragyo showed herself at Nui's house, and we were losing quite badly, and... Ah. Sorry - the Two-Star district."

(Gamagoori) "The news was talking about some guy cleaning out every bar in the district. Tanaka something."

(Satsuki) "The toils of a newly minted crown prince."

(Gamagoori) "He knew how to pick them. Still, though. I don't know how to describe what happened to Outcast there."

(Sanageyama) "He - was fighting so ferociously, like an inferno of gauntlets, attempting to start a forest fire by fist alone. No matter how exhausted he had been from the Tri-City Raids, his prior battle, and the stress of it all, he was a true leviathan, an unstoppable suit of armor. But rapidly, though they were foes he could have easily slain, the cowardice of them was gaining the advantage.

Suddenly, he transformed - his own suit of armor spat him out, like a poisonous meal. A set of a horrific maw extended like a great eel, a set of teeth spinning like a drill from between blackened lips. It grew at least twice in size, and its hands grew to thickened claws. In an instant, the armor swallowed him whole. The man became a kaiju, in an instant! Before our eyes!"

(Gamagoori) "… That's about how you describe it."

(Inumata) "We - believe it was attempting to protect Ryuko. As best as we know, there is no form of communication with it, but it appeared to… Sanageyama, continue your poetry."

(Sanageyama) "Before we could move, it had rend the foes before us like a scythe against chaff. It decapitated, maimed, and there was no amount of cruelty that was too great, so angered was it! It was a wonder it did not rip the world in half in its stomps!"

(Gamagoori) "And then, the rest."

(Sanageyama) "I - as an honorable man - saw that Ragyo was fleeing like a coward, running through the streets. Yet in spite of the obsidian horror blocking my path, I still attempted to quell the beast myself. We erupted in a fearsome clash, and I, in a noble sacrifice -"

(Nonon) "Uh, clash? It took one look at you and chopped your arms off. If Gamagoori didn't grab Sanageyama in his tendrils, the beast probably would have ate him alive like it did those chicks."

(Satsuki) "Ate - him alive?"

(Ryuko) "By the time it killed everyone we were fighting, besides Ragyo, we were already running out the back door. For - some reason - it eats everything it kills."

(Gamagoori) "A man needs his calories."

A pained groan went around the circle.

(Nonon) "… Y-Yeah. I hope that - I'm not sure whether I hope that means that's not him, but… If it's not him…"

(Ryuko) "… I-It is. Like Inumata and Aikuro said, Outcast comes from his cerebral cortex. If he was dead, the creature would be, too."

(Nui) "What a cannibal!"

(Inumata) "Cannibalism only applies to the same species. I'm not certain what type of alien that creature is, though Aikuro assured us this transformation was something unique to the man and not to our own abilities."

(Satsuki) "Similar to the malfunction of Kamuis."

(Ryuko) "Yeah. That's what I thought, too, but… That's from the Life Fibers getting too hot with boiling blood. I don't know what the equivalent is for him."

(Satsuki) "… Correct. It is odd to see - to hear of that occurring. He never mentioned it, I assume."

(Inumata) "Not in the least. If he's still cognizant, it's likely he was as confused as we were at the transformation. However, Ryuko has a…hypothesis."

(Ryuko) "…yeah. I - maybe I'm just hopeful."

(Nui) "It's so hard to be dating a world ending terror…"

(Ryuko) "He went through the entire luxury district and destroyed it. The news said every single inhabitant was missing by the time we left today."

(Nonon) "… He's eating those corpses, too."

(Ryuko) "… Maybe it's just food for it. But - I think it's trying to protect me, at least. Sanageyama raised his sword to it when he was pointing it at Ragyo, and maybe - I don't know."

(Satsuki) "The… alternative is very distressing. I presume we are going to see it in person, soon enough."

(Nonon) "Luxury district soon. They're going to have a shitton of police and military quarantining the place."

(Satsuki) "Fortunately, they'll assume we're medical personnel and not bother checking until it's too late."

(Ryuko) "It's only been going through the luxury district, though, and… I don't know. Ragyo said she captured it at REVOCS headquarters."

(Satsuki) "I'll allow you the lead of it. What shall we do when we find it?"

(Inumata) "It appears to be heavily weakened, judging by Ragyo's arrogance on capturing it. Every last REVOCS high-ranking employees should be guarding it."

(Nonon) "… I-It's not going to be vulnerable to mind control, right?"

(Inumata) "… We shall see soon enough, unfortunately. The helicopter's descending - I set the location for a short distance from REVOCS headquarters, just in case."

[Skippable dialogue ends here.]

And as he said it, so it was. The helicopter sputtered, its wings carrying the last of its strength as it began to descend in to the apocalyptic and razed landscape. A thousand bombs could not have destroyed the area more thoroughly, nor left so little evidence of the carnage it had brought, feasting on the fattened aristocrats.

They landed at a precarious spot, next to the corpse of the previous helicopter that had fallen to the leviathan's aim, and shrouded themselves behind the wreckage of the district as they strode. They knew the military might watch, and was staring intently from the impromptu towers that flickered dimly, green juttings only barely visible. Their faces were shrouded; terrorists, none of whom the military wished to save, nor intervene.

They saw REVOCS headquarters on the horizon, past pools of red, crumbled archways, hair and bones that hung from broken branches. As they walked along chipped marble paths, they were flanked by demolished homes.

The sun was sinking behind the skyscraper, the needle jutting out from the landscape like a refuge from the nightmarish spectacle. Through shattered buildings, homes, and small businesses, the seven heroes strode. Their faces were lit by the last red and yellow streams, flickering like a dim lamp. The air reeked of blood.

The destruction the six, with their missing eighth, had brought to Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo only a week ago was merciful in comparison to this.

As they walked, they spoke again.

(Inumata) "I - will admit that your guesses are as good as mine, by now."

(Satsuki) "A peculiar admission for a man to make."

(Gamagoori) "Now, now. Don't make it any harder on him." said Gamagoori, stepping over a piece of rubble as a man avoids stepping in shit.

(Ryuko) "If it attacks any of us - we need to run. I - I really don't want to hurt it, or fight it."

(Satsuki) "Correct. From the description you've given, it would be best to avoid combat with it altogether, if it is possible."

(Sanageyama) "Perhaps he will take my legs next, and I will become fully bionic…"

The seven strode up the outer steps, cracked craters and fountains, and came through gates that were ripped apart like bent straws. They knew no human had done this. The ground underneath changed from cracked marble to discarded chunks of red pavement, bricks that were splashed with a deeper red.

They averted their gaze and did not wonder what had occurred. There were chunks of hair and flesh that the beast had not feasted upon, like a horrible bale of hay scattered over the circular plaza with tall outer walls. At the center of this circle was a fountain with a statue of Ragyo, Satsuki and Ryuko, and Ryuko noted with a sigh of relief that the beast had chopped Ragyo's head clear off its bearings, like the same spectacle she had wrought, yet left her's and Satsuki's visages untouched.

They were through to another clearing of stairs, where spikes lifted the ground as mangled material. The front facing side of REVOCS headquarters was an utter mess. A meteor had smashed clear through the double doors and cut like a titanic drill through to the main lobby. It was illumined in flickering light, and there was a elevator fit for a hundred women at the end. There was a desk, at which laid a strewn chair, signs of a struggle, and the whole atmosphere was covered in a crimson wave. A genocide had taken place in this room.

Satsuki's blood grew cold as she searched by sight for the terror, which she knew must be slumbering or chained behind one of the walls still standing. She heard the sound of a gaping breath cut through the air; or, at least, thought that she had.

"Keep your Specters sheathed." said Ryuko, taking the lead of it as the six followed closely behind her. "It'll form instantly if you're about to get hurt - and I don't want any of us to accidentally provoke it."

As Ryuko approached, marking her ascent with careful, calm footsteps despite her quivering fingers, she felt an unreal presence fade around her. Slinking along the walls surrounding the shattered entrance with a gentle hand, she took a deep breath.

She turned the corner -

\- and found no sight at all in the first corner she looked, to her left, though the lobby was wide enough to encapsulate the full mass of the beast. The walls were marked like a red oil painting, and she gestured to the others to follow her deeper within.

In moments they had looked to each corner, and yet -

"- here." murmured Inumata, in a low tone and terrified of the scene around them. By workings of his fingers, a hologram glittered from his back, a blue cloud of light that allowed them to see further. They saw a variety of mangled, decapitated figures laying in a heap and scattered all around the floor. The bones were picked bare, bit to pieces, like an earthquake had split the very skeletons.

Inumata, growing sicker by the second, but with no sympathy for these carcasses, gestured to the southeastern corner by which he was standing.

A deep fear chilled Ryuko as she looked to where Inumata stood. The chains that had encapsulated the beast had been yanked clear from the walls. The crimson puddles that were staining their footsteps dragged off in a single direction to the elevator, like red arrows, and after them, red footprints at close intervals.

Satsuki took a deep breath before she spoke. The tale the six had told her was horrific, but none as violent as this.

"… All REVOCS' employees. Scientists, security, the likes." muttered Satsuki, crouching lowly and pulling a single identification card from the skeletal heap.

"He formed a red ocean. A nuclear bomb has more finesse." muttered Sanageyama.

"There's one REVOCS high-rank employee he didn't kill." preened Nui. "Guess who just made vice-president!"

"Ryuko." Satsuki murmured, answering and questioning. "He would not know who to target, correct?"

"I - mentioned to him before it happened that all the directors lived in the luxury district. He wouldn't know who was responsible and who wasn't."

"They're all guilty of shit, anyway." said Nonon. "If they're rich or helping Ragyo."

"Of course." said Satsuki. "I simply did not expect it to be quite so bloody."

"The protector hypothesis has the most evidence, as of yet, but…" Inumata shook his head. "We won't know until we see it, and by then, it may be too late."

"What a big appetite!" exulted Nui, to which the six winced.

"Still." murmured Ryuko. "If we don't find him, soon, he's going to end up destroying all of Japan because he thinks it's the only way to keep me safe."

Satsuki slowly nodded, aghast that she had discovered one more protective of her sister than she. "Correct. Fortunately, if we can - if we can communicate with it, and relay that Ragyo is dead, and we have nothing to fear any longer, there will be no reason for him to continue this."

"Right." murmured Ryuko, tapping the severed head kept to her back like the pelt of an animal. "That's why I brought this."

"We're more necromancers than men and women, now." muttered Inumata, stepping over the puddles with gentle step. "It appears as if they were leading him off to somewhere. The puddles are marked and dragged about in the same pattern as these chains. If we are lucky, they will not have wiped the security footage yet, and we shall find where they have taken it."

The seven nodded, and just as eager to leave the doomed chamber, strode to the elevator. By flickering of the blue light, they saw a pristine panel of buttons, on which were over fifty. Inumata traced carefully along the electronics and tapped one, for the fiftieth floor, and the back-up power still coursing through the building purred to life amicably.

Then, once they were through to the fiftieth floor, the doors opened.

They took a slow, careful step out to this setting, which was as pristine as the buttons had been, and a far cry from the doomed main lobby. They were standing in a carpeted hall, in which were branching corridors. With a single switch and as silent as a mouse, Ryuko flicked the lights overhead to life, dimming the entire floor in that eerie rainbow glow. Her fingers turned the knob to control the color, and it baked in a more familiar blue.

And further down this hall, they slunk about, not knowing at any moment if a foe would appear. A dimly lit panel of glass appeared on the horizon, that was the room for which they were looking, where computer monitors distorted in the glass like a black smear of squares. Though they could rush headlong to it, Satsuki sensed that not all was right in the air. She gestured for Ryuko, Nonon, her, and Nui to take the left wall, and the men at the right.

The openings at regular intervals led to a labyrinthe maze of offices, where doors were placed that led to wider rooms. As Ryuko turned carefully to their left, pressing against the wall with held breath, she felt a distinct presence looming and waiting for her. Her eyes turned the corner -

\- and found nothing, but an empty corridor leading to the eastern wall and wrapping about the perimeter.

There were signs to guide the way, quaintly pristine. At her back, she knew Gamagoori had performed the same inspection, and found the same result. The entire air had a distinctly unreal quality to it, like a surreal painting through which they were gliding.

As if they were afraid their good luck may soon run out, they ran to the next wall. The two lines passed a door at one end, and there was a second door at the end of these enclosures, with no windows through which to see.

Threateningly, Ryuko felt a gust of hot air at her neck. A moment later, a door behind her creaked open, and as she turned her vision -

\- it was Nui, and judging by her flailing but silent gesture, she had accidentally pressed it ajar.

The six stifled heavy sighs of relief. Their hearts were near set to burst out of their chest at any moment. Sweat drew down Ryuko's neck, a cold air replacing the hot breath of Nonon.

At the next intersection, the seven saw an odd liquid coating the floor in a thick streak. It was translucent and in a strand like a frayed rope, leading a trail of sickly black off to the left hall. Ryuko's blood grew cold as she took a deep breath, and she braced herself for what was beyond the next corner and turned -

\- it was like a crimson and black nightmare as it rushed down the corridor, maw spinning like a drill, bowed legs hurtling its enormous body along at terrifying gait.

Instantly it scooped the woman in its claws and rushed like an obsidian meteor, gnashing its teeth as it knocked the rest off their feet by the shockwaves of its step, grasping Ryuko's torso to smash her against the floor -

"- W-Wait, wait - b-boyfriend - wait!" she cried out, blood coating her visage the same streak of red as her hair. It dropped and pounced over her like a tremendous weight. Its claws sank deeply against the carpet, and its maw dripped the same black liquid. Like an eel, it appeared to gaze listlessly in to Ryuko's eyes, leaking putrid saliva in the space between her arms and torso.

"D-Don't hurt it! Don't hurt it!" shouted Ryuko, sensing the six at her back ready to spring in to action. In one swift movement she ripped Ragyo's head from her back, and placed it against the floor above her own, as if she were offering a sacrifice better suited. The six behind were in terrified silence, wishing desperately to raise their weapons against it while knowing they could not. If they had, either the terror or Ryuko would execute them.

The maw, coated in dried blood, seemed to regard this head with perplexed, expressionless, yet strangely questioning demeanor. In the next instant, the beast's breath had slowed. Ryuko saw underneath the light that it was streaming black blood from a score of wounds, which were now painting her legs that same shade, like an oil well within the accursed body of the creature.

"S-She's dead, okay?" panted Ryuko.

All of the preparation in the world could not have braced the seven for the unworldly countenance.

It put its teeth to the gray hair of the offer, seeming to quiver as it went, examining with no gentle bite. Its limbs began to sink and bow, but loomed threateningly above Ryuko, like an executioner's rope set to crush her.

"She's - Ragyo's dead, okay? Y-You can come back. Right? R-Right?" said Ryuko, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Then just as suddenly, the creature pulled its enormous body off from her own. It scooped in its teeth the severed head by its hair, and drew back down the main corridor. It appeared as if it were allowing Ryuko to stand, and with a deep breath, she stood again, face-to-face with the beast and the severed cargo which it held in its protruding maw, now hanging by a single tuft of hair.

"It's - I killed Ragyo, okay? It's okay. You can come back - I love you, okay? I'm safe now."

There were no eyes to be seen within the face like an obsidian sheet. Saliva and crimson dripped down its teeth in timing with its own bleeding. If it laid like a wounded hound, it was standing like one now. It bowed its maw as a serpent to a charmer, seemingly presenting its flank where dried blood had caked in layers.

"I-It's… It's okay." murmured Ryuko, attempting a familiar tone. With a careful and predictable movement of her hands, she traced gently its wounds. "Will - can Nonon play a melody for you? To help you feel better?"

Suddenly, the creature jolted upright. It wheeled and turned, enormous legs hurtling its body along at tremendous gait. A thousand racehorses could not match its speed, and they saw it begin to disappear from a gigantic figure to a shrunken one on the horizon, where the security room lay.

Ryuko rushed after this sudden jaunt, and the six were hot at her heels.

"Is - does it sense someone?" murmured Inumata at their backs, his voice still quivering.

"It's clearly not going to harm Lady Ryuko, it seems." said Gamagoori, panting as he went.

"I - I'm not gonna risk playing a melody for that thing…" murmured Nonon.

They rushed down the corridor, and quickly came to where the beast had disappeared. It was laid against one of the corners near the security room, scattering potted plants and seats in a far less violent path of destruction. There was a quaint quality to the creature, where terror had struck their hearts before, as it now sank limply against the corner of a door to the security room.

Coming in to the clearing where it lay, six stopped suddenly, and Ryuko, with all the fervor of a grief-stricken widow, rushed to the creature. A trail of blood and saliva had been left in its wake. She pressed her hand against the top of the maw again, and carefully, still foretelling her every movement, sank against the tips of its claws.

"H…hey." she murmured, utterly flustered. "What's - are you trying to lead us somewhere, boyfriend?"

The spectacle was completely ridiculous.

The terror that had brought a genocide to the district appeared as a loyal dog. Still as statues, the six dared not to move, in fear that the loyalty would end in a red splatter.

"… U-Uh…" muttered Ryuko, just as confused as the rest. The breathing of the creature quivered her back as she laid against it. By movement of its claws, it placed her gently within, like a cage formed of bones.

"… Protector was right." murmured Satsuki. "I would suggest we not touch or go near Ryuko, until it releases her."

The beast snarled, seemingly in answer as it gripped Ryuko closer to its torso. As a child is taught to walk around a newly bought dog, Satsuki strode to the opposite end of the enclosure, attempting a friendlier smile to the terror at the other wall, and by movement of fingers every bit as foretold as her sister's, pressed gently open the door to the security room. The others strode in first, and saw that Ryuko was now laid closer against the terror.

As Satsuki's boots dragged precariously against the floor, she stumbled upon something bulky and yielding. With a stifled gasp of surprise she turned to it, then crouched lowly over it with confusion in her eyes.

It was Ragyo's head. The beast had thrown it to the opposite wall, cracking the ghoulish visage and giving a more violent quality to the frozen painting.

"… Ryuko." murmured Satsuki, standing and turning to the dog and its mistress. "Why has he thrown Ragyo's head over here? It was in his maw before."

With a low whisper, Ryuko asked the same question of the beast, which did not answer. Like a mangled ball, Satsuki rolled the severed head across the floor, and Ryuko scooped it between her fingers. Her movements came easier now under protection.

"Maybe you can play fetch with it." muttered Nonon, comprehending none of this.

"… Here, boy." said Ryuko, placing the head below the beast's maw. Again, as it had before, it picked the head in its teeth and threw it to the other end.

The seven were perplexed.

"It'll eat the entirety of the luxury district, but not Ragyo?" said Inumata, cocking his head in an attempt to form a hypothesis out of the madness. "What a bizarre creature."

"We are within its den, Inumata. It would be improper for it to eat first." said Sanageyama, shaking his head ruefully.

"You - you can eat her, you know." murmured Ryuko. "I bet she probably tastes…uh, good. Like chankonabe."

"How did we even get on this discussion?" said Gamagoori, shaking his head. "The thing's likely leaving it as a trophy for you."

"Then he'd be giving it to me, not throwing it."

"Dogs aren't terribly bright."

"Ooo…" said Nui, in a lower tone. "His brain has been shrunken to the size of a walnut, in that thing."

"Finally found one part of him that isn't large." murmured Inumata, and the six shot him an odd look.

"I don't even want to know how you know that." Nonon groaned.

"If - we have found it, I suppose the next order of business will be to check the footage, though…" Inumata shook his head, perplexed by the insanity of it all as he sat at the desk. "I presume it has killed all of Ragyo's loyalists left. It likely broke through its chains some time before we arrived, and the spectacle on the lower floor was either the battle prior or the battle after. If we are lucky, Ragyo's scientists are dead with them, and we can refocus our efforts on attempting to bring him back."

"…yeah." murmured Ryuko, the comedy of the situation washing away. "There's probably someone still left, I guess, if he hasn't changed back. Right?"

"Or he's stuck -"

\- Gamagoori threw his hand over Nonon's mouth.

" - mmmfffff."

"We shall assume that he is not." said Satsuki, putting on an air of false confidence. "If he will follow Ryuko, Aikuro can examine him once we return - I'm certain that alongside Inumata, we will find some cure for it. Inumata - the security footage."

Inumata nodded, tapping the central monitor ahead of him to bring it to life.

His eyes widened, then his brow furrowed in the worst bout of confusion yet.

"They've, ah… left a message for us." said Inumata, shaking his head and gesturing to the monitor. Upon it, a text file, which read out a set of coordinates, alongside sequences of five numeric codes.

"An obvious trap, again." said Gamagoori. "Likely where the last of them fled."

"It would appear so. They've wiped the security footage."

"Why would they give us their super secret base? I don't even recognize this place." said Nonon, shaking her head.

"Kudur Island. Nudist Beach's boat should be able to take us there quick enough - we'll meet them at their base again, and it should only be an hour at best."

"Right." murmured Inumata, checking it on his phone. "A private island, with an unknown owner. Of course."

"And, ah…" Satsuki said, gesturing vaguely to the dog clinging to Ryuko as a child to a stuffed animal. "… Ryuko, can you, ah…"

"… Yeah." Ryuko nodded, making gently to press the claws away from her torso and standing. "Come - here boyfriend. Uh. I guess."

"From man, to leviathan, to dog." Sanageyama shook his head. "A cycle of reincarnation."

Ryuko wondered how it would react to the sight of her pajamas, then pushed it out of her mind without a second thought.

"I'm… I don't know if we can bring it with us, though."

"…ah. That is true." Satsuki muttered. "It's already quite wounded, and every single one of us will become kill on sight once the military or police catch sight of it. Let alone the possibility of it rampaging through the other districts."

"We can simply take the helicopter, but that behemoth -"

"What?"

" - the - leviathan. I dare not think what would happen if it thought Ryuko were leading it to another district to order it to kill."

"Yeah. I'll just, um…" whispered Ryuko, slinking between its claws like a mouse through a hole. To her surprise, the arms had gone limp, and its breathing was deep, as if it were resting. "I'll… J-Jeez. Uh. Stay here, boyfriend - Outcast - okay? Just stay here, and - we'll all come back for you, okay?"

"Is it sleeping?"

"A sleeping beauty. A man needs his rest, after a week like that. Those wounds are starting to close, too."

"Thankfully." muttered Nonon, more than grateful to not risk playing a melody.

Ryuko's fingers searched vaguely for where the forehead might lay, if it had brow or eyes.

She planted a single kiss on it -

" - oh jeez that feels weird -" she gagged, incredulous that she had done it and incredulous how awful it had felt. The six erupted in to laughter.

"What did you think it would feel like?"

"B-Better than that!" she shouted, scraping her lips with ferocious pace. "It just - felt like the right thing to do!"

"You shouldn't kiss your boyfriend if he has bad breath." Satsuki shook her head and wagged her finger. "Particularly if he's killed a thousand people in one week."

"… W-Whatever." Ryuko's body shivered, her hands patting gently the sleeping beauty. "I - I love you, okay? I'll be back in a few hours. I'll be totally, completely safe by then - okay? I-I really want you to come back to normal."

Too quietly for the others to hear, she murmured to where its ears might lay. "Because you're going to be a father."

The beast lay still as a board, and its breath came cyclically in its slumber. There was no reaction to the announcement.

Ryuko sighed. She thought the lie might have worked.


	11. Chapter 11 - Seven Secrets

The dreadnought brought them as close to the oasis as it could safely manage, and the helicopter would handle the rest. They sat as seven, but not fully eight, in the fuselage, the ocean below passing by in a blue blur.

(Gamagoori) "Finally got enough leg room, at least. Is it still at REVOCS, Inumata?"

(Inumata) "Correct. Ah - t-thank you for planting the tracker on it before we left, Ryuko. I wouldn't want to trigger the bomb."

"Yeah." she murmured, her eyes firmly glued on the screen in her lap. Blinking like twin strobe lights, their destination, and the terror's location. It was still nestled safely within its prior den. None wished to approach that doomed perimeter.

"… You know. This is gonna be our last mission together." murmured Nonon, a wave of familiarity striking her. "We better get all our secrets out."

"As if." Inumata shook his head. "Without the leviathan here, it would be no fun at all."

"I can say one for him." Ryuko grinned. "Does that count?"

(Gamagoori) "It really shouldn't - but drastic times call for drastic measures."

(Nonon) "What if we did something different? Some real juicy shit. Maybe you get to ask someone something."

"A wonderful idea." smirked Satsuki, steepling her fingers and looking to the six like a hungry dog looks at a steak.

(Nui) "Ooo! What if we got to ask one question, and they have to answer it truthfully?"

Satsuki was in good company with that couturier. Her eyes gleamed with anticipation, in timing with the one.

"Let's start, then." said Satsuki, grinning fiercely at imminent humiliation. "Who would like to start? A single question, to anyone you would like."

"I got a good one." grinned Nonon. Her eyes fluttered between the other six, so as to not reveal her target until it was too late.

"I still need to think of mine." muttered Gamagoori. "I'd say let the conductor go first."

(Sanageyama) "Agreed."

(Nui) "Ooo! She has such a wild gleam in her two eyes!"

Ryuko's eyes widened in horror as the conductor turned to her, the devil ready to be summoned from its pink-haired portal.

"Ooo. I think Ryuko looks like a juicy target."

"Do tell, Nonon." Satsuki's grin grew by the moment.

"W-What would you e-even want to ask me, anyway? You should be asking Satsuki!" Ryuko's cheeks grew as pink as the executioner's hair. "You should ask Satsuki if -"

"- now now, let the conductor speak."

Across Nonon's face grew the same smirk from that breakfast. "Hey, Ryuko. When we were still at the bunker, you and your boyfriend spent a lot of time together, huh?"

"Y-Yeah. So what? That's just normal couple stuff." grunted Ryuko with clenched teeth and closed eyes.

(Nui) "Ooo! She's blushing like a stuffed pig!"

(Satsuki) "The expression - never mind."

(Nonon) "But you guys usually used his or your room for it, right? And you were always super quiet."

(Ryuko) "D-Did you try to listen in on us?!"

(Satsuki) "A conductor must have highly tuned ears, after all."

(Sanageyama) "Like a hawk, and as keenly tuned as a bat. A pin could drop and she would hear it."

(Nui) "Or an obsidian jackhammer! Chug-chug-chug!"

(Gamagoori) "Let her ask the question, already."

Nonon laughed. "But one night, you guys went somewhere else. You went aaaalllllll the way to the back of the bunker, right?"

(Ryuko) "You've already asked two questions! Jeez…"

(Satsuki) "If you don't hurry, Nonon, there won't be enough time for anyone else."

(Nonon) "I'm trying to build up to it!" She shook her head. "So, my question is - for real this time - what were you guys really doing back there? I bet it must have been real loud, if you wanted to hide it like that."

Ryuko's cheeks burned so fiercely, she might burst in to flames and be saved from the torment regardless. Her eyes darted about and found only the heat of every gaze in the accursed fuselage on her, waiting on her every word.

"… He - my boyfriend just - wanted to -" she sputtered out, desperately attempting to buy time for her lie. " - just - wanted us to do it somewhere new. That's all."

"Ryuko. Do not make a mockery of this game with such an obvious lie." The sisterly shark was a ruthless hunter.

"I…" Her fingers drew in to pretzels, and sweat drew down her brow. She had never imagined she would need to relay this tale. "… I, asked him to… if we could... try roleplaying."

The fuselage erupted in to laughter.

"My, my." said Nonon, shaking her head. Ryuko stopped, thinking that were enough to catch the trend of it. Nonon held her hand out. "Oh no, no, I'm sorry! I shouldn't interrupt."

"A-And so - I played the part of - a bad Ryuko, and I asked him to spank me. Once! Only once - that was the only time we ever did anything like that."

The fuselage erupted in to laughter, and even Ryuko stifled it some at the absurdity of the situation.

"I'll help drive the heat off of you, Ryuko," said Satsuki, holding her hand out to comfort her sister.

"It's the least you could do," murmured Ryuko, leaning back and not knowing if she were safe or only given a brief reprieve.

"Nonon."

It was a wonder the conductor did not shriek. Her cheeks matched her hair, as she turned to meet the shark's gaze. If Satsuki were executioner, this was the French Revolution. Her fingers were steeped with pleasure, as if she might eat cake at any moment.

"I would like to ask you something, quite carefully."

"L-Like about my music? That's easy - I - I mean really embarrassing!" said Nonon, turning her eyes to the windows.

"No, no. It's a question that has been on my mind, for quite some time." The woman was putting on a masterclass in embarrassment. "Ah - I should add some context, for our lovely Nui, here."

"Ooo! Context!"

(Satsuki) "When we were at Honnōji, I ran a contest a month before this year's Tri-City Raids. Whoever could write the most poetic praise of me would win a uniform I had once worn."

(Gamagoori) "What a narcissist." Gamagoori shook his head and grinned.

(Sanageyama) "They ranged from bargain bin to designer, for a term our couturier may be familiar with."

(Satsuki) "They were quite amusing. But there was one I found odd - it was a crown jewel among the rest, but when Nonon read it out, she said it was anonymous. It was quite a disappointment, given how well-written it was - but she threw it in to the trash."

(Ryuko) "Good thing you didn't put it in the shredder, though."

Nonon's eyes widened in horror as she saw Satsuki's fingers dig through one of the drawers at the front of the cockpit, and pull a crumpled sheet of paper forth.

(Satsuki) "Now, Nonon. My question is - would you prefer I read this out loud, or would you like to?"

(Sanageyama) "What's got you so tense, Nonon?" he said, attempting to look over Satsuki's shoulder. She swept the letter close to her chest as if it were a precious artifact.

The conductor sensed there would be no escape. She would be cornered, mercilessly, the sister taking revenge for the sister with the red streak in her hair. She had always bent easily in Satsuki's hands.

With some difficulty, Nonon pushed out a slow gesture to herself, taking gently the precious letter as she clenched back her embarrassment.

(Satsuki) "What luck you were the one who read it out loud that day."

(Nonon) "I - a-a friend submitted it for me! She stole it out of my desk!"

(Satsuki) "A likely story. Did she write it?"

(Nonon) "O-Of course not..." Shaking her head and closing her eyes, her cheeks clenched as she mustered up the last of her energy in the words that felt as if they were her last.

"Dear Lady Satsuki." Her teeth grit and her jaw clenched. "Ever since I first saw you, I can't help but think of you every day, and my dreams have been a constant, wonderful paradise. Whenever I go to sleep I think of your beautiful, stoic face, and whenever I wake up I think of your immense radiance. Your eyebrows frame your face like an angel; your black hair waves about you as if it's a flag marking the most beautiful woman in the world."

She slumped limply against the fuselage. The curiosity of all but Ryuko, Gamagoori, and Satsuki, was growing by the second.

(Satsuki) "Go ahead. Read the last lines."

A high-pitched whimper escaped Nonon, like a flute tuned flat. "H-How stupid would you have to be to not know who wrote it, a-anyway?!"

(Inumata) "Lady Satsuki - I still do not understand the point of this."

(Sanageyama) "She is as red as an apple."

(Nui) "She's fit to blow!"

(Satsuki) "Now, now. This is a direct order, Nonon - read the last lines of the letter."

Nonon sank in her seat, her fingers quivering. "…I would do anything if it meant I could share a single kiss with you, but if you see fit to grant it, I'll settle for an outfit your blessed body has touched."

She closed her eyes. "Love, Nonon Jazakure."

The couturier gasped, not expecting the squadron to contain two women with the same persuasion.

"You really sure you want that kiss, now?" grinned Ryuko, more than happy to turn the tables on the taunting conductor. "She's always like this, you know. She loves embarrassing people. Especially her number-one fan."

Nonon was limp in her seat. "T-This game sucks!"

"Now, now." said Satsuki, shaking her head. "It was only proper to turn the tables back upon you. Come and give me the letter back, Nonon."

With weak legs, Nonon stood and strode to the woman, handing the letter back with weaker fingers. She turned around -

"I didn't tell you to sit." said Satsuki, grinning like a hyena. "Come here, Nonon."

Nonon's eyes widened as she turned, quivering and blushing as Satsuki gestured her back with a single finger. The conductor was a snake charmed. She felt Satsuki place a single hand upon her right cheek, a pale white against sheer pink, underneath her hair and parting softly her bangs. Not a figure in that fuselage was deaf to the sound of the conductor's heart pounding like a mallet.

Closer and closer, Satsuki drew her face, pulling the conductor in unison, until -

\- she planted a single kiss on the conductor's quivering lips, then just as quickly pulled her in for a deeper second.

"J-Jeez." murmured Ryuko, averting her gaze, as all but one eye in that fuselage were.

"Ooo! Lesbians!"

\- Satsuki pulled away with a flush face and a deeper smile, and as she opened her mouth to speak -

"I-I love this gaaaaameee!" shouted Nonon, which was followed by the sound of a thudding body.

The conductor had fainted. The six, trimmed from eight, burst in to laughter in a raucous harmony, with not a dry eye to be seen in the helicopter that had so quickly turned romantic.

After a long pause and allowing her cheeks to cool alongside her laughter, Satsuki placed her head on her right hand.

"A shame. She won't be able to hear the other questions."

(Ryuko) "She's also safe from them, you know. Maybe you need to wake her up."

(Satsuki) "Now, now. She's quite cute when she's sleeping. Had anyone planned to ask her a question?"

(Inumata) "Before that, yes, but I wouldn't want to have to follow that." Inumata smirked, shaking his head with a laugh. "That may take the peak."

"Now, now." said Gamagoori, dragging the conductor up and placing her on the seat beside. "There's plenty of good questions to be asked - like mine." His eyes flickered to Inumata's, almost threateningly, with a fierce grin on his face.

"Do tell." The shark was back on the hunt again, with a kraken in tow.

"O-Oh dear." Inumata muttered. "I - imagine Sanageyama must have something particularly good."

"No, no." Gamagoori shook his head. "I know when a story doesn't smell right. Now - when you got arrested for the hacking of those banks, a few years back - I read the papers. They said you got sold out by someone in your inner circle."

"A-Ah, yes." Inumata murmured, suddenly with red cheeks. "That - is what they said, correct. An anonymous tip."

Gamagoori's smile grew wide, knowing his throw had landed on a bullseye. "What's the real story behind that? You did it as a solo gig - there shouldn't have been anyone in your inner circle."

"…a-ah. Yes. Quite." sighed Inumata. With a wave of his fingers he bid the fuselage to silence, a mixture of laughter and embarrassment seeking to sprout. "That…is correct, Gamagoori."

"Even Satsuki and I don't know what happened with that. You didn't say much about it to anyone besides the lawyer we got for you."

"What a criminal!"

Inumata laid his head back against the wall. "Yes. I - when I was fifteen, I was the one responsible to hacking in to some thousands of UFJ bank accounts, laundering nearly a billion yen - or ten million dollars - through a variety of proxies. I was very thorough, of course, and as you note, my tracks were quite spotless. My own parents were not aware of what had occurred until the police came crashing down at my door."

"There was no one to sell you out, then?"

Inumata shook his head. "Merely a story created to cover for the prosecution of the - innocent, unfortunately - man that took my place as prime suspect. " He pinched his temples, barely about to suppress laughter. "When - I was a second-year at Honnōji, at the time, and there was quite a… How should I describe her? A young girl, who - I thought - was my age. She enjoyed computer science as much as I did, and she was very beautiful."

"- you didn't." laughed Gamagoori, readying to unleash the full bellow.

"And I, in a foolish bid to impress her, a socially awkward teenager at the time -"

\- the helicopter filled with cackling, even Inumata's -

"- asked her - 'Would you like to go out with the man who hacked in to the UFJ?' - and before I had said another word, she slapped a set of handcuffs on me."

\- the entire fuselage cracked with that same laughter, bellowing in a true comradely display.

(Gamagoori) "You're fucking serious, aren't you?"

(Ryuko) "THAT'S what your lawyer had to work with?"

(Satsuki) "My - my fucking god -"

(Nui) "What a retard!"

"The boy thought with his penis, and ruined a perfect crime." said Sanageyama, shaking tears of laughter out of his eyes.

"Unfortunately so." said Inumata, laughing alongside the rest. "Or perhaps, fortunately. It did lead to my recruitment."

The laughter died down as they waited for Inumata's question. With an exaggerated display of horror, he turned to Sanageyama, and the oak instantly shook like a leaf.

"Sanageyama, Sanageyama." said Inumata, shaking his head. "You shared quite a wonderful secret with me, during the day you skipped class, four months ago."

"I - yes." muttered Sanageyama, knowing there was no escape. The red sun rose in his cheeks. "I - requested that I be excused from the meeting that day, as I had - a personal matter to attend to."

"Another dick joke." said Ryuko, shaking her head ruefully. "Did you try to fuck someone from Cultural Appreciation?"

(Sanageyama) "N - No. It would be an abuse of authority to attempt - sexual relations - with a club member."

A wave of familiarity struck Ryuko.

(Inumata) "Oh, no, no. This trip was outside of school grounds."

"I - Inumata. That was told to you in full confidence!" said the oak, rustling like a twig. A stifled laugh went around, where all eyes were wide and awaiting.

"Shall you tell it, or I?" grinned Inumata.

Sanageyama sank like a disgraced warrior in his seat. "… Come, then. I shall relate it - and you will sling your arrows of humiliation against me with all your might."

(Inumata) "You haven't even said what it is yet."

(Satsuki) "Only five minutes left, Sanageyama. If you're not quick enough, I'll allow two questions to be asked on the way back."

A deep breath passed, and filled Sanageyama's lungs. His face was a stone tablet, splashed with pink sides, like a cut of steak served for the six.

(Sanageyama) "… I attended the - grand opening of a new cafe. A meet-up, of sorts."

(Ryuko) "That's it?"

(Sanageyama) "A - ganguro cafe."

Immediately Nui let out a ferocious cackle, screeching like birds being burned alive in a shoebox. The others, not catching the strange term, were confused.

"Gan…guro?" muttered Ryuko. "What's that?"

(Nui) "Ooo! It's when women paint their faces orange or black, with ugly pink lips! What a shameful fetish! Your dick must have been dropped on its head!"

"The joke is far less funny if you explain it." said Inumata, relevantly. "It would be best to look it up in your own time."

"A delayed humiliation, then. I - shall not be ashamed for what I am attracted to." said Sanageyama with a face that said he was.

"I'll ask a question to everyone!" said Nui, preening and bouncing. A series of protesting groans went out, and Satsuki shook her head ruefully as she waved the couturier down.

"I did save all of your lives, you know! Only one person needs to answer!"

"... What is it, Nui? Perhaps I'll allow it." said Satsuki, knowing the child was insatiable.

"One of you broke my toilet!" preened Nui, her eye darting between her targets like a laser.

Five figures, one unconscious, and four conscious, fell in to demoralized confusion. The couturier was investigating a crime with no evidence left, and yet, one wide man's expression confessed his guilt as if he had shouted it openly.

"Ooo! Context! When Inumata-mata, Outcasty, and I came back to my home, I found out the toilet was clogged with shit! Literal shit!"

A pained laugh for the hard-boiled detective.

"And it couldn't have been you!" said Nui, pointing like a madwoman to Ryuko. "Or Nononononon! There's no way you could fit a load like that!"

"It - must have been the leviathan." said Gamagoori, his expression porcelain. "Probably - probably - must have gone before you noticed. He - must have left his guard post."

"It was like a brown serpent! I thought a bear broke in, Gama-goo-goo-dolls!"

"Or a behemoth." murmured Ryuko, catching the trend of the conversation.

A weak laugh cracked from Satsuki, which was soon followed by the uproar of the others. The dirty humor roused the five to their longest bout yet, tears of laughter flushing down their cheeks, the couturier shaking her tiny fists like an imp as she stared deeply at the criminal.

"I'll - cover the costs." muttered Gamagoori, averting his gaze as the most embarrassed yet. "Not the first time I've done it."

"I thought it was odd you were in there for so long." said Sanageyama, laughing dishonorably.

After what seemed centuries of laughing, the fuselage fell to silence, and passing the baton, Nui pointed to Ryuko-ko.

"Jeez." Ryuko shook her head, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. "I think I'll go with..."

Inumata stifled a shriek as he saw the red streak turn to him, double jeopardy for the pardoned man. A wide grin arose across Ryuko's face, already knowing her target to be fruitful.

"Wanna talk about that examination you did?" preened Ryuko. "Outcast said you found something really interesting."

"A-Ah." muttered Inumata, no less embarrassed than the first round. "It - it would be an invasion of medical privacy to divulge that."

"You've already invaded it enough," said Satsuki, steepling her fingers hungrily. "Perhaps it'll save our lives again. Go ahead, Inumata."

"It - it is terribly, terribly, terribly embarrassing for the man. Are you certain that is the question you wish to ask?"

"Definitely." grinned Ryuko, Inumata's pink reflecting in her eyes. "Go right ahead."

"I..." Sweat drew down his brow, and his breath came as pants. "... F-Fine. He - I was examining him, of course. A variety of sensors were hooked in to his brain, some wireless, some not, so as to allow me to take his neural patterns even with the armor on."

"A momentous day." muttered Sanageyama. "One that will live in infamy."

"Y-Yes." said Inumata as he scratched his neck. "In - a - admittedly, ill-advised bid, I was attempting to determine how sections of his brain reacted under imagination. I foolishly asked him to imagine holding Ryuko, as I assumed it would be quite familiar to him - "

"- he didn't." bellowed Gamagoori, preparing for the full ruckus again.

"That obsidian was painted white!"

"No, no, nothing of the sort," laughed Inumata, the embarrassment shifting from himself to the leviathan. "Simply that - the blood rushed from his brain to underneath the suit, we realized instantly what had occurred, and we did not make eye contact for the rest of the day."

A laugh burst through the rest, both nostalgic and eager for their comrade to return.

"Told you it'd be a good story." grinned Ryuko, leaning back and shaking her head.

"As he told me, he had imagined you wearing a set of orange pajamas."

Satsuki's eyes shot open. "Excuse me?"

"Uh, nothing, nothing, nothing!" sputtered Ryuko, flailing her arms as her cheeks seared the same color of the red streak. "Let's - um - Sanageyama is next, Sanageyama is next!"

"I - never mind. I do not wish to know." murmured Satsuki, holding her hand out. "Unfortunately, we're at the island. We'll have to finish this some other time."

As if on cue, Nonon sprung weakly to life, flailing slowly in a romantic haze.

"I had a really good dream…" she grinned as she leaned back.

"It was - never mind." murmured Satsuki, shaking her head. The conductor might faint again if she told her the truth, and it could always wait until after.

She turned her gaze to the windows. The island below was fast approaching. There were trees and fields of lush grass, forests like thick sheets of green, shrubbery dotting the landscape.

The helicopter hovered, for a moment, to allow the seven to stand and view the landing zone, cutting back the untamed grass in a circular wind. Hills of shadowed vegetation under the night sky rolled in waves, beyond to where the sand bar that bordered the oasis lay, a thin yellow line that separated green from blue.

In the midst of the clearing where they soon landed, there was a single enclosure. The rectangle jutting out could not have been more out of place, a single door with a single keypad, concrete and metal, that likely led underground to where the last of the loyalists had fled.

The seven shot from the helicopter's back doors. Six stood as an unbreakable line at Satsuki's back, sweeping their vision and searching for an ambush, but found nothing but silence, with untamed vegetation rustling.

Satsuki took the lead of it as she pressed on to the door, placing gently her fingers at the keys.

"Zero - five - zero - nine."

The portal buckled down and sank under the combination. They threw themselves to the top step just as quickly, the hall downward thankfully wider than it had first appeared. Concrete walls turned to metal, which flanked stairs they rushed down, none wishing to be caught in a pincer there.

They came to a wider chamber with glass and blue floors, translucent walls covered in electronics, dim tubes providing the light above and below. They stole stealthily yet swiftly across the room, past the bins of red strands, surgeon's tables, vitals monitors for cargo pilfered from orphanages and cribs. Nui shuddered as she recognized her true birthplace, and peered with one eye at the tables that lined the walls like hospital beds.

"They'll know we've arrived." muttered Satsuki. "The last of them are here, likely in wait with Life Fiber infused girls."

"… We can't do anything to help them, right?" said Nonon. "They - they don't have strands to cut, anymore, but…"

"Only put them out of their misery." said Ryuko as they came to the next keypad. "The infusion rate is probably high enough now, that…"

"… We cannot hold back." said Satsuki, closing her eyes. "They won't hesitate to kill us. As Ryuko says, the best we can do for them is to put them out of their misery."

"Ooo…" murmured Nui, sympathetic but violent.

Satsuki placed her fingers at the keys again. "Zero, one, sixteen."

The door ahead, which took half the wall with it, peeled back like a curtain, and gave way to a corridor. It twisted like a serpent, yawning to the left. Satsuki looked to the walls of this hall, along which were glass tubules like containment pods, strung along the walls and packed tight. They were silent, but contained grisly occupants.

Within these miniature prisons and like a child in a mother's womb, hung red, humanoid figures, formed of Life Fibers.

Before Satsuki had taken another step; the fetuses banged like caged animals against their restraints - the glass prisons shuddered and burst, and instantly the beasts within leaped to the floor and blocked the path of the seven. Cracked and shattered glass rained as the same spectacle repeated further down, like puppets pulled on a string as they began to rush to the seven, mangled and chaotic spawn of hundreds.

"They're - sentient!?" shouted Inumata.

"Kill first - questions later!" shouted Satsuki, clashing and slicing the beasts as five rushed to join her. There was no time for questions or answers in that inferno of blades, that hacking and slashing of Specters and Fibers that met over stained glass in the midst of that corridor.

The seven carved, slashed, lashed, stabbed, conducted, sliced, ripped their foes to shreds; they found them to be far weaker than expected, pushing back the red line with an unbreakable one led by a stroke of white. There were yarn and strands being hacked to bits, guiltless violence enacting corpses, upon which the seven trampled, the symphony catching stragglers at the back as the red zombies threw themselves limply on to the blades.

The seven carved a red path and painted the walls a new color, splashing a wave of crimson as they surged, slashing as seven - and eleven extra - figures down the corridor. There were pods bursting at their backs, streaming a necromantic horde that was desperately attempting to quell the tsunami rushing through the hall, swarming them with new abominations that wilted beneath the whirlpool of swords and scissor. The chaotic spawn were suicidal; they offered no resistance but their bodies, their strands coating the squadron in a berserk haze, whose boots and heels stomped mangled corpses and trampled through red carpets.

An ocean was being drilled in that incubating corridor, the seven's Specters an untold power none could hope to match as they carved a way through. Not a single inhuman figure would stand in that hall once they had left it. The loyalists were truly desperate to use such vermin.

So ferocious did the seven fight in this blaze that Satsuki felt the whole bunker may fall beneath them the same -

\- and just as quickly, their spree of violence came to an abrupt end.

They had smashed through each pod, and the entire floor behind was a chaotic rug. Strength counted more than numbers in that undead corridor. The symphony had reverberated through the walls, just as it had in the Tri-City Raids only a week prior, and left a wake of red strands as if a tornado of knives had cut through it.

Still drunk with battle-rage, Satsuki ran down the corridor and came to the next door, a red haze and sheathe in her eyes.

"Wait - Lady Satsuki." said Inumata, taking a moment to pant and catch his breath, where his holograms were in eerie sync. "That - is highly unusual, is it not?

Stopping suddenly, Satsuki wheeled, her face a feral snarl and a bitten animal.

A wave of realization struck her expression. She became pensive, but was still ready to erupt at any moment.

"… It is." She panted, wiping her face clear. "Why would they not use the girls?"

"Maybe they ran out of them capturing Outcast." muttered Nonon. "They're on their last legs. They're not experiments like - Nui, right?"

"Don't be silly, Nonononononononononon. They didn't look human!"

"No." grunted Ryuko. "That's - precisely it. They weren't human."

Inumata's eyes widened in revelation.

"… The purpose was not to create Life Fiber infused humans. Even - no. Of course it would be that. The infants were merely a stepping stone for this, but even a child needs time to grow before it can harness the full strength of Fibers -"

(Ryuko) "- unless it's already completely made of it. That's why she kept trying to push the infusion rate higher - to attempt to make them as strong, but as sentient as needed."

(Sanageyama) "An army that can be produced in a factory."

"We must hurry." said Satsuki, her breath caught in her lungs. "An outfit is far easier to weave than the kidnap of a child - if the time is anywhere near similar, an experienced couturier can create a uniform in hours."

"S-Still. Why lure us here, then? We would've never found this place without them telling us."

"We shall kill first, and ask questions later."

Ryuko nodded, a wave of familiarity striking her. "Agreed."

With no gentle step, Satsuki came to the third panel, which was set along the door like the others.

"Ten thirteen."

As it had with the others, the door opened, to a wide room like the others. A putrid scent immediately attacked their senses; Satsuki stepped forward first, and a piercing gasp left her as they saw her glance right. With wild eyes she rushed down the chamber, shoving instruments and pods aside like the wind, slashing what few foes still remained, and as the six pursued, she shouted a single order back;

"Do not look right! Rush through this - very quickly! Do not look right!"

The six ran with pinched noses, Satsuki running like a feral dog after the next door that lay at the end of the putrid chamber. They felt that the floor at the sides of the room gave way, a deep ditch of steel dug like a canal on both ends; the left, filled with discarded red strands, and none wished to disobey the leader and discover what discarded mass lay at the right.

But Nui was attacked by this horrific scent, like a hundred corpses, and tried as she had to resist, she could not help but look to the source -

\- and found the metaphor to be literal. Her cheeks tinted green and her eye clenched shut, wishing she had not seen the sight of these redder heaps and bones, discarded in the valley that extended down the right wall. A shriek passed her lips.

"What did I say?!" shouted Satsuki, smashing her fingers against the keypad like a mad woman; the door opened, painfully slowly, and each hurtled to be the first to exit the death chamber.

Then they were through again, and frantic as the rest passed by her, Satsuki threw shut the great steel door behind.

"I - I don't feel so good…" panted Nui. The images she had seen would fill her nightmares.

"No - no one else saw that, correct? Please - do not look at that. When we leave - after our victory - close your eyes, and I will lead each of us across that awful hall." said Satsuki, still panting as she desperately tried to push the images out of her mind. An odd gratitude overcame her that the leviathan had not left evidence so terrible as that.

"I-I got a good idea of what it was by the smell…" said Nonon, anger clenching her teeth. "W-We need to fucking kill every last REVOCS employee in this bunker. Torture them, if we can."

"A-Agreed." grunted Inumata, who had caught the trend of it. "T-Thank you, Lady Satsuki, for telling us not to look right. I can't imagine how horrific a sight that must have been."

"It - It was. We must keep going - to keep my mind away from that - terrible memory, if nothing else." said Satsuki. At any moment she thought she might vomit, so putrid was the scent that wafted persistently through the thin slits of the door. "Another - door, ahead."

"Four six - eight three. This is the last code they gave us." said Inumata, his cheeks ready to tint green from his imagination alone. Satsuki, nodding and entering the combination, pushed onward both in gait and mind, through to the next room.

A second gasp left her lips as she passed, and as the six behind rushed to her, their eyes widened in horror and amazement as well.

They had come to what was assuredly the final room, a flattened area that was a mile across and a mile long, the entire enclosure bathed in that rainbow light. At one end of the chamber, a red serpent formed of Life Fibers was slithering, as long as a dozen men stood head to toe, and wide enough that there were sixteen figures upon it. Ghastly eyes of piercing yellow stared back from fabric tightly woven, and its fangs hung from a lipless mouth.

The right seven figures were revealed as it turned. They were men and women who had wrought the beast to life, through the samples they had taken from the terror, and their own research.

But the left nine figures were even more shocking.

"Aha! I thought you would come - Satsuki, Ryuko, Gamagoori, Inumata, Nonon, Sanageyama, and the mangled mongrel Nui!" preened a rainbow-haired figure, her legs swept over the body of the creature.

The appearance wracked havoc on the seven's senses. Their anger mixed with confusion; their eyes widened, and fingers at their weapons tightened and curled.

A cruel laugh emit from Ragyo at seeing the seven flustered so, still sans their leviathan.

"What a pale imitation." said a figure who sat at Ragyo's left, with long black hair, thick eyebrows, and a strong jaw. "Fortunately, she won't be alive for long."

"Agreed." said a figure at this mirror's left, black bangs, and a red streak like a waterfall in her hair. "They really do look like shit."

The rest of these mirror images fell silent, and looked in deference to the mother that commanded them. A masterwork painter could not have woven a more convincing imitation. The seven were staring back at themselves; even their uniforms were the new appearances.

"Then - the Ragyo I killed..." panted Ryuko.

"An illusion, Ryuko, but a wonderful test! You truly believed you had killed me, did you not? It bled the same as any human, and spoke much the same!"

"The experiments." muttered Satsuki.

Knowing herself to be the beacon for the six, she strode ahead of the line, gesturing for them to keep their eyes trained on her back, where her hands now laid in a natural display. "What were you intending to do with the - experiments?" As she spoke, her fingers pointed down the line right-to-left, assigning each a number to which the phantoms would not be privy.

Herself, zero. Sanageyama, one. Inumata, two. Nonon, three. Gamagoori, four. Nui, five. Ryuko, six.

Inumata caught the trick immediately, and in a low whisper relayed it to the others.

Appearing not to catch it, Ragyo laughed, narcissistic and drunk on her own power;

"Mere test runs! The world need not be conquered by military might, though your leviathan has presented a wonderful opportunity!

It will be quite an easy task to kill the seven of you - and so wonderful are these imitations, bound to my will, that the Nudist Beach terrorists will be none the wiser until you've butchered them to the last man! Without their troublesome organization around, there will be no stopping the march of REVOCS corporation around the planet. The ability to replace any life I wish with that of a perfect servant - and when I command the sleepers to awaken, there won't be a target in the world we cannot have assassinated."

"That," she preened, reaching to the illusory Ryuko and pressing her fingers deeply within her top, roughly against her breasts, "and far more pleasurable uses. I shall finally have a daughter that obeys."

Rage boiled through Ryuko's veins, the hated countenance a demonic presence that was entreating her, baiting her as the devil tempts man, to erupt in to one blow and fall beneath the serpent's great fangs, which dripped ominously with green. A tether bound the seven together, tighter than any red strands, than any bit of fashion could. Their expressions matched in a berserk eruption, and they felt then the anger the leviathan must have felt in that moment.

If they had worn a Kamui, there was no amount of attunement that would stop the demon from swallowing them whole.

"And with the serpent - why, the newest Elite Five will not even have to fight the rest of you, without your -"

From behind the seven began a tremendous shaking, an earthquake of stomps, hurtling and smashing through the entrances they had already opened -

"Clear! Clear!" shouted Satsuki, and the seven shot off and scattered before the entrance to the arena -

\- and from within that entrance leaped a familiar terror - its spinning maw drilled a section clear cut of crimson through the serpent, and unhinging its jawless features it ripped its monstrous foe by its neck, smashing it like a log against the wall.

The sixteen figures fell from the serpent; they shot to their feet just as quickly. Yet nine figures were too slow to dodge; a tremendous set of claws were the last sights the last researchers, the illusory Ryuko and illusory Outcast saw in life, dead in an instant and like a mangled heap.

The leviathan threw the serpent and caught it by its tail, then smashed it against the wall again; a thunderous roar escaped its maw and filled the cavern, and now, the seven heroes were off again and to their respective foes - Ryuko, with Ragyo.

"It - it tore the tracking device off?!" shouted Inumata, his desperate hallucinations smashing with the phalanx of his mirror, a fiendish battle in rending strikes, a dozen knives against a dozen knives.

"You can't have expected that to work!" shouted Gamagoori, his tendrils defensive around Nonon at his back, lashing open a score of wounds on to his own image.

"The leviathan has returned, and he clashes with the Mizuchi!" shouted Sanageyama. He and his mirror clashed in a flurry of disappearing and reappearing katanas, a swift battle of reactions as each sought to block - and phase - and gouge through their foe's center, the cloak billowing about him with all the intensity of the sun in the inferno of blades collecting at the center of that nationalistic tear.

The entire chamber filled with simultaneous orchestras, two competing beats that strived for dominance, a flurry of wind and symphony that cancelled each other like two waves clashing at a divided bay.

"Ooo! You even gave her the right eye patch!" preened Nui, slicing and dicing with all the demonic vigor, a flurry of dual scissor blades her clone was helpless to block against. "I wonder if you can dodge a stab wound, too!"

"Outcast! Keep the serpent away from our battle!" shouted Satsuki over the calamity, her face lit with sparks just as much as her mirror's. In a monsoon of blows and white tatters they circled and clashed, rending in a white, blue, green and red blur so swiftly a dozen strikes erupted in the time of one. They swept and slashed underneath and through, the flashing of the one and three blades clashing, screaming as they met.

The leviathan did not speak, but seemed to roar in answer. The claws ripped through the air, seeking to bring the serpent within range of the horrific grasp, to bring it within range of the gaping teeth to rend and tear. It was a terror set to rip the world asunder in the blows it cratered against the belly of the beast, tearing Life Fibers in a tatter like acid rain, the air a crimson cloud as the two beasts thrashed in a lash of tail, fangs, claws, and teeth.

And the most tumultuous battle of all, Ryuko and Ragyo's, daughter against mother. In a ripping of blades and hailstorm of spikes, Ryuko strived to impale the twisted heart of the ghoul who wove in and about every strike, and Ryuko was slicing faster and faster by the second. In chipped nails and chipped obsidian they fought in a hellish display of blows, the most violent performance of all ringing out at a volume as titanic as the one the leviathan and serpent were creating aside.

They clashed in a tornado of gray tatters and jade rage, revolving around the center of the arena; Ryuko's dripping blades spattered blood and gouged deeper and deeper within the voluminous gray robe, flurries of blows Ragyo was helpless but to dodge against. But in spite of the handicap of the first blow, the robe's durability was quickly gaining Ragyo the advantage. She had taken enough punishment to kill a dozen women, and like a shrouded nightmare she still stood, blood and Life Fibers spraying from her body, and as Ryuko drew her blades clear through her torso -

\- Ragyo ripped her by her neck and threw her to the wall, and she was among her with a rush and a gigantic bound. Incising and as ferocious as a shark she trapped Ryuko within the hellish strikes, and now it was Ryuko on the defensive, seeking desperately an escape from the wall she was now forced against. A hailstorm of missiles erupted from her shoulders - but missed just as easily, and Ragyo's cruel laughter sung with each gash she carved out of Ryuko's Specter.

And at the other end of the arena was a battle no less vicious, the two white sharks snarling, their two outfits weaving and flashing about them in a blur of white, blue, green, and red streaks.

Their faces and uniforms' eyes were lit by the fireworks of sparks, sweat and blood soaking them to their ankles; a blue gauntlet against blue, Satsuki's sword constantly aflutter and swapping rapidly between three and single pronged variants. She was seeking to trap her foe's blade within the transformation, to pierce the internals of the mirror image. They fought along the wall in a tatter of white fabric and white rage, carving a line of hellish strikes against the enclosure cutting clear through the material.

The illusory Junketsu's eyes swept underneath every single strike. The illusory Junketsu's wearer swept underneath every single strike.

Their glancing blows painted their faces in blood, and Satsuki shot after her mirror and pincered her just as ferociously, her strikes breaching her foe's guard and shoving her further and further back. Before the prey had realized it, it had been backed against the wall, and Satsuki drew her blade back -

\- and suddenly swept to the right, narrowly avoiding a crush from the serpent's tail. Underneath the unexpected aid the clone escaped her double's trap, and it was a certainty she would not fall for the same trick twice.

And if the student body presidents' battles had been violent, the leviathan and serpent were genocide. The leviathan had gripped the serpent by its neck, smashing it open against the wall, yet the former sluggishness still carried through; the serpent wove its lithe body between the claws, and in a fell swoop sunk deeply its fangs against the leviathan's back, black blood and deeper venom spurting. It thrashed stupidly and wildly for an instant, precious moments that allowed the bite to dig deeper, and the tail of the snake grew closer and closer, constricting like a thick rope around its foe's torso. The wild, desperate animal writhed against the restraint, and like quicksand it only drew the lasso tighter around its torso. In a moment of feigned stupidity, it lodged its claws underneath and threw the rope around its neck, where the tail now sought to snap the spine that lay within the demonic monstrosity -

\- the maw tore and drilled a hole clear through; with a hissing shriek the serpent released its grip, and now the terror was free again, a gaping wound cut through the internals of the serpent like a bullet exits a man's skull.

"Dog, dog! Pathetic, pathetic!" shouted Inumata, a strew of mangled holograms and torn bodies at his feet, his knife crusted in blood. It was two armies meeting on the battlefield, and when a man went down he did not get back up underneath the stomping boots and whirling blades. A hundred men had already died in a deathless battle, and as Inumata caught sight of one mirror in particular, a familiar arrogance twisted his eyes.

"My god! You've only taken the appearance of the Specter, not the power, mongrel!"

\- though it would be easy to mistake it, given the two samurai beside. An odd property had occurred with the presence of two phase-katanas, like the differing polarity of magnets; a phased blade could only be blocked by a phased blade, a corporeal by a corporeal. In a whirlwind of cloaks and red suns they clashed and countered, their swords flashing to and from twin existences like a strobe light tuned far too violently. Their pain and sweat was drowning their cloaks in a blood-coated mess, Life Fibers strewn, a red waterfall against their faces and hardened features, bellowing as their swords screamed; just as quickly they separated from each other, neither wishing to be the first to strike again, two samurai circling and whirling in a red streak.

In a single flourish, Sanageyama ripped the cloak from his back -

"To hell with honor! One! Nui!"

\- and before his mirror image could realize his plan, the cloak was thrown against his foe's face. Writhing like a body bag filled too soon and thrashing, desperately attempting to put some distance between him and the oni in human form brought to ruin him, he backed away -

\- and the point of a keen scissor entered his heart through the back just as a second impaled him through the front. His lungs and throat filled with fake blood and true Life Fibers, gargling a putrid mix as Sanageyama and the couturier sliced vertically - and now the illusory image was truly ready to be executed.

"Ooo! Gotta go, Sanage-ge! Hope that was the right one!" preened Nui, whirling to face her own foe that had been hot at her heels.

If the performance of every other fighter in that cacophonous arena was violent, this was truly vicious; a flurry of dual blows against the walls of the arena, her heels kicking up a gallon of blood and spikes like nails seeking to pin her dwarven foe, and with Sanageyama now at her foe's back, the demonic image was forced to adopt defensive maneuvers in a battle that required offensive, her dual blades near set to shatter underneath such horrendous might.

"Four! Nonon!" shouted Gamagoori, his behemoth pinned against the floor underneath his tendrils and coated in crimson paint; the full orchestra sprang to life at Nonon's back as she surged forth. Gamagoori craned open his double's ears, entreating him to hear every last note -

\- and his opponent's head burst open like a split water balloon, filled with blood and fraudulent brain matter for whatever mental capacity that horrific beast held.

"Uhhh - five, Nui!" shouted the illusory Nonon, sweeping her vision wildly, the behemoth rushing to her with a gigantic bound, but the only reply -

\- was one-half of a scissor thrown through the air, pinning her skull to the wall like a horrible stalk growing from her head.

"Ooo! I love this system, Sat-Sat-Satsuki!"

Now, Gamagoori turned his vision to more pertinent matters, the battle of the two phalanxes at his back and threatening to engulf him at any moment. He saw that Inumata was as a guerilla fighter, his illusions scattering and diverting as shooting figures, the analyst heartened mightily at seeing the victory of the other battles.

"Gamagoori! The true dog still breathes out of sync! Two!"

\- in the next instant Gamagoori's tendrils plucked the true fake from the crowd, biting a score of wounds on the analyst's double. Thrown in to shock by the sudden counter, the snap of his neck was the last sound he heard in life.

Yet on the other end of the chamber was a battle appearing to go far poorer. Satsuki's double was rapidly cornering her against the wall - the pressure of the ferocious blows pushed Satsuki further and further back; the spectacle had been repeated from the opposite end, and as her opponent drew her blade back and thrust with all her might-

\- the illustrious student body president shot to the left again; the blade pierced clear and stuck within the metal, and before her mirror realized the risky, maniacal trickery of the woman -

"Junketsu! Beam!"

\- a score of lasers reduced the blade to ash, and in one fell swoop Satsuki lopped the head from the detestable creature's shoulders.

With a smirk, she glanced to the five, rushing to her, and held up her fingers in the shape of a zero. She ran to Ragyo and Ryuko at the other end of the chamber, deftly rolling underneath the titanic battle of serpent and leviathan, that judging by the score of wounds each were sporting, was near set to come to an end.

But inexorably, the serpent had gained the advantage. It was dragging the leviathan around like a cloth sack, the desperate animal trapped between its fangs and tail. In a flash, it swallowed the terror whole, spikes off its back and all; its throat and stomach bulged with the thrashing of that leviathan, but just as suddenly, its cargo went rigid, like a corpse in its digestion.

Satsuki shook her head ruefully.

"You should have never let him inside."

From within the serpent's stomach shot the same obsidian spikes from the leviathan's carapace, rending the snake to a pathetic display of mortal fabrics, slicing and tearing as the terror's telekinesis opened a path of skin. Red strands sank, and became limp. The spikes shooting forth were obsidian stalactites within that cavern, and as one narrowly missed Ryuko, Ragyo, seizing the opportunity, ripped her by her neck - her nails impaled clear the chest of the rebellious upstart -

"What nice eyes you have." grunted Ryuko, and a smaller storm of spikes gouged Ragyo's eyes, drilling to the tunnels of her skull and leaving a mangled white flood. Screeching underneath blinded and searing pain, Ragyo thrashed as a drowning woman; Ryuko gripped her hair and smashed her skull against the floor, dual blades twisting between her fingers as she butchered deeply Ragyo's back.

The spectacle on display was the most torturous and violent yet. Again, and again, and again, her rage carried in to the shattered remnants of Ragyo's skull, spikes being driven further and further against her brain, drilling like surgical instruments and finding a bloodier core to the demonic harlot -

\- and in one fell swoop, Ryuko's blades acted as the zipper to the skin of the woman's back. Mangled, gasping, shrieking, screaming, red heap of muscle, fat, flesh, hair, bones, all met in a refuse pile pooling at the base of REVOCS' finest president.

Then, once more, silence fell over the bunker of Ragyo.

The seven were coated in blood, stepping over their own corpses. A distinctly unreal quality was present in this chamber, to see one's own carcass, mangled, torn, gashed, and dead, but to see it through one's own eyes.

There was no more fight to be had. The leviathan, the obsidian terror, was strung from head to demonic toe in it, bathed in crimson, given a fresh coat.

The seven were panting, feral, but breathing, calming.

And at last, after what seemed centuries of pause, the eight, now truly eight, met again, in the center of the death soaked chamber. Their breathing was ragged, slowly adjusting, the victimless murders weighing in the exhaustion on their faces.

"Nonon." said Satsuki, fingering her bruises ruefully. "A final melody, for a final victory."

With a gentle arm, she pulled Nonon to her, caressing her back with blood-soaked fingers. She pressed her lips along the conductor's -

\- the thud of a falling body.

Nonon had fainted again.

"... What an adorable woman." said Satsuki, shaking her head. "Regardless, this should be the end of them. If the true Ragyo is dead, then ownership of REVOCS shall pass to Ryuko and I, after a short, easily rigged investigation. The eight of us are safe."

"Not… necessarily." muttered Inumata, panting and pensive. "It - is possible one merely managed to guess the number correctly, or the Ragyo was another illusion."

"…right." murmured Gamagoori, suddenly pensive as well. "And there's not any way to tell."

Satsuki shrugged her shoulders. "Fortunately, there is. Bring the corpses of each here - Ryuko, bring Ragyo, and your loyal dog."

Slightly perplexed, the seven separated, then dragged the corpses that were their own - but not their own - in to a line at the center of the chamber.

"… Uh. Here, boyfriend." muttered Ryuko, attempting to pet the obsidian terror as it strode beside her. "Do you smell something, Hachikō?"

The beast, hanging its maw low, came to the first corpse, that of Satsuki's. By the judging of its quivering, chattering teeth, it appeared to sniff.

"…of course." said Inumata, shaking his head. "It won't eat Life Fibers if it doesn't need to - even this fraudulent sort. That was why it did not eat Ragyo's head."

The beast came to the next, that of Nonon's. It passed inspection, and it strode eagerly, as if it could understand the whispers behind it.

Sanageyama's, fraudulent.

Gamagoori's, fraudulent.

Ryuko's, fraudulent.

Inumata's, fraudulent.

Nui's, fraudulent.

Then, as it came to Ragyo's, it dipped its maw.

Every eye in the chamber - all thirteen - were trained on it.

"… C-Come on. Eat it." said Ryuko, incredulous at cheering on the cannibalism. "She - probably tastes good. See? You can come back, n-now…"

With its head it pushed the corpse to Ryuko, as if offering a romantic gift.

"… Uh. You can - have it. I'm - not hungry." she muttered. There was a strange level of cognizance to the creature, that housed the man who had shared so many meals and had so much food stolen from him by the woman.

But this time, Ryuko did not want him to give her some of that.

The beast's claws scooped the limp body between its shattered and bloodied claws, and in one fell swoop dropped the carcass straight in the infinite abyss, like a man might drop a fish in to water.

There had never been more applause for a cannibal in human history.


	12. Chapter 12 - Epilogue

"Will it - he, ah…" Aikuro gestured vaguely to the beast, kept safely within the prepared room in which they were standing. Behind a thick sheet of glass, sat Inumata at a familiar desk with familiar monitors, amused at seeing the fellow blue-haired wonder so tense, and the black-and-red so relaxed.

"Uh. You should probably let me take the blood samples, just in case." murmured Ryuko, looping the dog's leash around her right wrist. With far more confidence than any of the men in the room, she pulled a syringe off a nearby table, and carefully drew black blood from the beast's neck.

"There, there… Good boyfriend." she muttered, enjoying the spotlight more than she was letting on.

The terror had been entrusted to her care for the past week. It had cleaned itself of all the blood and gore it accrued over its path of destruction via a deep dive overboard Nudist Beach's ship, and so long as Ryuko were around, it was as a calm dog. She had learned it would eat anything dead, disappearing for hours at a time to feed, and often came back with a whale carcass between its claws.

At night, it stayed with Ryuko in her room like an obsidian nightlamp. It was a beast just as odd as the man she hoped was in it, and if it remained transformed for much longer, she might try to teach it to shake.

"I'm going to give this syringe to Aikuro, okay? Don't worry - everything's safe now, Obzy." she said, patting its back gently. It released her from its light grip to allow her passage.

"What a way to see him again." Aikuro shook his head, attempting to stay as calm as he could as he passed the sample to Inumata. "I haven't run labs like this since we took the boy home with us."

"A peculiar sight." grinned Inumata, placing the syringe in to a metal hook near one of the monitors. "Ah - temperature has gone down, fortunately. Only a hundred and ninety five degrees, this time. I would suggest avoiding skin contact, Aikuro."

"It - That means he'll be okay, right?" murmured Ryuko, patting the obsidian scales gently. "You said it was two hundred for the first sample we took."

"Correct. The Kamui, and the protector hypothesis, were both correct." Aikuro shook his head. "I'm almost disappointed it wasn't set loose on another luxury district. So it goes."

"What a cruel organization." said Inumata, shaking his head with a sardonic grin. "Though after that horrific mass grave, I can't blame you."

"Let alone him." Ryuko gestured to the terror, making her way back and laying gently within its arms. "Dad hasn't even seen him, yet."

"The man still hardly believes it." Aikuro shook his head. "He's buried himself in the research you seven - ah, my apologies - eight gave him from that bunker, just to ensure there's not a stone left unturned."

As if on cue, the doors opened, and in burst a familiar and wizened man, who looked as if he had just returned from a battle just as ferocious. The beast snarled, making to stand.

"- down, boyfriend." said Ryuko, tugging gently on its leash. "It's just my dad."

The dog heeled.

"It's really dangerous to charge in here like that, you know." murmured Aikuro.

"Yes, yes, yes." said Isshin, shaking his head and hair about. "I simply came to relay progress, and to see Ryuko. You'll give a father that."

"Should we clear the room, then?"

"No, no, no. No need." said Isshin, sitting a safe distance between himself and the beast. "He's grown quite a bit - hasn't he, Aikuro?"

"They grow up so fast. From boy, to man, to leviathan, to hound. I'll almost be sad when he transforms back - the base could use an guard dog, once we return."

"As if." grinned Ryuko.

"But, I suppose you can't very well have a relationship with a -" said Aikuro, then threw his hands to his lips just as suddenly.

Isshin cocked his head and looked to Ryuko, who averted eye contact with a mischievous grin.

"A relationship?"

"… Y-Yeah." she muttered, suddenly flustered. "He's - uh - it's my boyfriend."

"Ah." nodded Isshin. "He must have a wonderful personality, then."

* * *

My eyes shot open - I thrashed like a desperate animal, my mind addled like a thousand cobwebs had been strewn over it -

'Outcast!' I shouted, my voice so hoarse it was a wonder I could say anything at all, and I staggered to my feet, my eyes searching for the vermin I knew must lay within this darkened chamber -

"Wait! Boyfriend, wait! It's okay!" shouted a familiar voice, laid against the floor below me -

\- and when I turned, she was there.

'W-Wait - Ryuko, we need to find Ragyo, we need to -'

"- boyfriend -" she said between bouts of pained laughter, "- do you not remember anything? Calm down - it's okay, it's okay."

Dizzily and in an exhausted haze, I staggered limply back against the wall, my movements coated as if I were wearing twenty ton weights. I felt Ryuko pull me down to her level, and as I sank, an odd ring brushed against my torso, like a collar for a Goliath of a dog.

"It's okay, it's okay," she said through laughter coated with tears, "Just calm down, jeez."

'I - did Ragyo capture us? I-'

"If you're not careful, it's going to happen again, and I'm gonna have to wait another three months." she grinned, a wave of familiarity striking us both. "We're safe - everything's okay, Ragyo's dead. It's over."

'I… what?' I muttered, my brain still moving as viciously as I just had. Carefully, Ryuko placed herself in my arms, her touch calming me as we sat together.

"… Mmm. Nice and big." She grinned. "All that food you ate over three months really went to good use. They estimated you ate three billion calories and nearly a hundred million grams of protein."

I comprehended absolutely none of this.

"…I'm tired, though. Let's get some sleep." She pulled me to the floor, where, bizarrely, a gargantuan pillow and a blanket lay. The chamber was cloaked in darkness, her pale skin like a radiant beacon as she laid her head on my chest. "I'll explain it all… Mmm… Tomorrow."

'You… You can't explain it n-now?' I muttered, incredulous.

"Sshhhh… Your Ryuko needs her beauty sleep."

And, for some odd reason, so did I.

* * *

The following morning, the eight of us sat at the table together, the rest nearly as pleased at my return as Ryuko had been.

She still had not said more than a word of our surroundings, our accommodations, Satsuki's consciousness, or how three months had passed in the blink of an eye.

Fortunately, Gamagoori's chankonabe was as filling as ever. It made good distraction for the exposition dump.

"And this," said Inumata, thumbing through the photos he had taken over the past months, "was what you transformed in to."

"I like this one the best. I had them take that one a few weeks ago." Ryuko grinned and presented one to me, my terrible claws clenched around her torso as the two of us slept soundly, like a dinosaur with a stuffed animal. The caption read - "Ryuko Obzy".

(Nonon) "You don't remember anything, though?"

'I… No. We were fighting in Nui's house - I don't think I ever felt as angry or desperate as I did in that moment. I blink, and I wake up.'

(Inumata) "I had suspected as much. The same occurs in Kamui wearers - a blink, a loss of memory, a blink. Apparently, Aikuro and Isshin had attempted to emulate a Kamui when they created your Specter."

(Satsuki) "Fortunately, there's no need to deal with that ruckus anymore. I had never enjoyed the vampiric creatures."

(Nui) "Ooo… What a nasty thing to say…"

(Nonon) "Guess we can't get, uh, prosecuted for your stuff either. Everything's been good for the past few months - Satsuki's got ownership of REVOCS, spinning the grief in to good PR, all the good shit. They didn't even bother questioning us for the murders."

(Satsuki) "Rei was presumed a suicide, bizarrely. The soldiers were incinerated, and a small endowment assured the silence of everyone in that arena. Though this time, the attention span has lasted several news cycle. They designated your rampage a national week of remembrance."

'I suppose it's appropriate. That bunker was a red mess by the time we left.'

(Inumata) "…er. That - was not the only murder spree you - or - Obzy - performed. At last count, they would still consider you responsible for over a thousand deaths."

'I - what?' A wave of guilt struck my heart.

"Told you you're too protective of me for your own good, boyfriend." said Ryuko, shaking her head and laying on my shoulder. "Thankfully, no one knows it was you."

(Nonon) "It was all rich people, military and cops, though."

The guilt cleared from my heart.

'…jeez.' I muttered, barely able to believe it. The number rang to me as impersonally as a statistic on a computer screen. 'I - who was I going after?'

(Nonon) "Everybody who lived in the luxury district, tried to fight you, and whatever REVOCS employees captured you. The entire district looks like it got nuked."

"Except for one, lovely house!" preened Nui. "Ooo! It'll look so suspicious, though!"

(Gamagoori) "Apparently, he destroyed it on the journey out."

"And you said you weren't smart." the girlfriend smirked, prodding me at my shoulder. "Why did you wait so long to come, anyway? The news said you tore a path clear through every district, dived off of a bridge, and no one ever saw you again."

'I - I suppose if I had to guess, it would be so you seven wouldn't be linked with me.'

(Nui) "What a kind brute!"

(Satsuki) "Fortunately, your reign of terror through most of the shareholders solved much of the issue for us. There was a brief investigation, and after a time, they have been perplexed over the origins of that mysterious obsidian nightmare."

(Ryuko) "Yeah. There's some fashion companies trying to fill the void, though - in the time we were gone - but it's nothing we can't handle. Just means we need to take our plan a bit slower."

'Your plan?'

(Ryuko) "Yeah. Some of the Life Fiber mines got sold off, but... We're going to try to… I dunno. Much, much higher wages, lower working week, salary caps, stuff like that. If we tried it right away, we'd get competed out of existence."

'Maybe we should try to conquer the world.' I muttered.

(Sanageyama) "The opposite of competition is monopoly, after all."

'And that were good dialectics.'

(Satsuki) "It's nothing another year or two of raids can't solve, fortunately. They're all too willing to attempt to kick the beast while they believe it's down."

'I'll only sign on if I still get my Wagyu.'

(Gamagoori) "After my own heart as much as ever."

(Satsuki) "Of course. The eight heroes who saved the world deserve that, after all."

(Nui) "I get to keep my job!"

(Ryuko) "You really do just love sewing."

(Nui) "I've always wanted to sew with you, Ryuko-ko!"

(Satsuki) "Which brings us to our next item of discussion. I cannot order you for this, anymore, but I would request… They are your medical records, of course. The lie seven of us have told…"

(Sanageyama) "Another pledge to secrecy, kaiju."

(Satsuki) "Our uniforms are a new, heavily guarded secret of REVOCS, to explain their appearance and other properties. Specters - the top of the line, woven by the world-class Nui Harime."

(Nui) "That's me!"

'I'll say. You're not planning on selling them, are you?'

(Satsuki) "No, never. The secret will stay with Aikuro, Isshin, Tsumage, and our eight. Simply a propaganda tactic to explain the changed appearance, as well as how they appear out of thin air. Some might call it mystical."

'I don't see anything less mystical about clothing giving you super strength and speed.'

(Nui) "Don't be ridiculous!"

'I'll keep it just as secret as ever. Is Nui getting one, too?'

(Ryuko) "Already did. Inumata and Aikuro finished her's up months ago."

'I'm almost afraid to ask how it changed.'

(Nonon) "It's pretty intimidating. Got one big ol' eye in the center of it, that stares at you no matter where you go. Like one of those creepy fucking paintings."

'Reminds me of Kamuis."

(Nui) "That's what I said! Defective Dress!"

(Ryuko) "Now you're the one being ridiculous."

(Satsuki) "I agree. Don't be ridiculous, Outcast. Still - the endowment, as a tax write-off, has already been paid. We shall never see charges for what we've done in these past months. Consequences are for the poor, after all."

"Just in time for graduation." Nonon sighed. "What about Nudist Beach?"

(Satsuki) "They'll reintegrate well enough, I suppose. I'll offer them positions at REVOCS, for any who will take it."

'You think they will?'

(Satsuki) "Better to steer the organization internally rather than bomb it externally. There's still corporate politics to be squared away, of course, and I'm certain we haven't heard the last out of any confidential projects Ragyo put on behind our backs. A gradual process, but with the eight of us keeping watch, there's no better squadron on the planet for keeping it safe than we."

"Elite Six." Nonon murmured. "This just keeps getting unsustainable."

"Looks like you're gonna have to keep calling me Lady Ryuko for a while, boyfriend." Lady Ryuko grinned. "Just make sure you don't get that angry again, okay?"

'…yeah.' I murmured and closed my eyes. 'If I ever do, I'll call for you.'

(Ryuko) "What do you want me to do?"

'Tell me you love me.' I opened my eyes. 'It'll be hard to stay angry after that.'

* * *

At a later hour of the night, months later, the barely-rebuilt luxury district had dulled to silence, and a diner stood among the outskirts. Within this diner, four figures were silhouetted and shadowed within translucent windows. The restaurant had been bought out for the evening, and the perks of aristocracy were still as pertinent as ever.

"D-Do you want the first piece, Lady Satsuki?" said Nonon, quivering as she gently slid her plate to Satsuki. The conductor looked ready to faint, and out of the corner of my eyes I saw her continuously pinching herself.

Satsuki, not noting this, shook her head with a smile far more composed. It was clear she was pleased to have found such a devoted fan.

"No, no, my Nonon. You'll need your energy for later." said Satsuki, her fork and knife at the ready for the ensuing pizza.

Ryuko gave me an odd look. The difference between the two sisters could not have been more palpable, nor in relationships, the two of us racing to devour our own slices as if they were our last meals.

"O-Okay…" muttered the conductor. There was a certain amusement to seeing her flustered so. The tables had finally, truly been turned. She set trembling fingers over the pizza set out for her and Satsuki, attempting to mimic her neatness as she cut a slice for her date. It was not too small, nor too large, as if she were afraid of offending and losing the wondrous chance presented to her.

"She's set to faint, you know." muttered Ryuko, prodding me and grinning at the show.

'I don't mind it.' I muttered back, rolling my own pizza in to a taco that tasted like Italy.

"Now, now, Nonon. I have a bigger appetite than that." Satsuki grinned and shook her head, taking thrice the amount on to her plate. "There's no need to be worried of offending me."

"R-Right." grinned Nonon, color pouring in to her cheeks and the difference between her face and hair lessening by the second. "S-Sorry. Just nervous."

"No pressure." said Ryuko. "Just you, on your first date, with the woman of your dreams, who you've had the biggest crush on for four years."

The ruthlessness may run in the family.

"Now, now. I won't tolerate any humiliation of my favorite conductor." said Satsuki, wrapping an arm around her favorite conductor, who was blushing deeper by the second. For all the taunting Nonon had inflicted upon us, the cool demeanor was failing miserably.

'I thought we weren't supposed to have special treatment.'

"We did graduate, you know. No such official thing as Elite Five anymore." Ryuko shook her head. "But you can still call me Lady Ryuko, if you want."

'As if.' I shook my head. 'At least your dad likes me and Nonon.'

"The lesbianism took some time to adjust to, but he's forward thinking enough." Satsuki shook her head and smirked. "Particularly with such an adorable girlfriend, here."

The yuri was reaching critical levels.

"H-Hey, um…" muttered Nonon, her fingers tying themselves in pretzels. "… S-Satsuki, um… I wrote a song about us… Do you want to hear it?"

"If you play it here, me and Outcast are gonna leave. We can't handle that much romance."

"I would love to hear it later, Nonon. I'm certain it's lovely. And what's more," said Satsuki, placing a finger on Nonon's lips, "I still have not given you the other reward for winning the contest."

"I think I'm going to be sick." murmured Ryuko. "Jeez."

'At least she isn't using Student Council's office for it.'

(Ryuko) "It'd be better."

"O-Oh… The uniform you wore?" said Nonon, her cheeks set to combust at any moment. "N-Neat."

"Of course. As a matter of fact, I'm wearing it right now." she smirked as her eyebrows raised. "When we return to my home, you can take it off me personally."

The sound of a thud, a single head against cushioned seats, a stream of blood from a flush nose.

"… Get a room. Jeez." Ryuko shook her head, quickening her pace at her meal to escape the love struck sights.

(Satsuki) "I was courteous enough to wait three months for the double date, after all."

'… Point taken.' I muttered, wrapping an arm around the angelic woman at my side.

"… Just like last time, right?" murmured Ryuko. the wave of familiarity washing over us again. "My big, strong, Outcast."


End file.
